MOROCCO 


-)  IS  r 


BOvNSAL 


MOROCCO    AS    IT    IS 


MOROCCO    AS    IT    IS 

"Mitb  an  Bccount  of 

SIR    CHARLES    EUAN    SMITH'S 
RECENT   MISSION   TO    FEZ 


BY 


STEPHEN  BONSAL,  Jr. 


ILLUSTRATED 


NEW    YORK 
HARPER    &    BROTHERS    PUBLISHERS 

1893 


CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   I. 

PAGE 

Decline  of  the  Shereefian  Empire         .       .       .        i 

CHAPTER   II. 
The  Western  Question 14 

CHAPTER   III. 
The  Sultan  Mulai  Hassan 36 

CHAPTER  IV. 
The  Shereefian  Court        ....  55 

CHAPTER  V. 
The  British  Mission  to  Fez tz 

CHAPTER   VI. 
The  British  Mission  to  Yzz— {Continued).        .        .      95 

CHAPTER  VII. 
The  British  Mission  to  7EZ—{Conlinued) .        .        .110 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
A  White  Slave  in  Morocco ^33 

CHAPTER    IX. 
A  Row  WITH  Bushta-el-Bagdadi         .        .       .        .142 


VI  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   X. 

PACK 

The  Shereefs  of  Wazzan 162 

CHAPTER   XI. 

The  Saints  and  Students  of  the  Kairouin  Uni- 

VERSiTV 175 

CHAPTER  XII 
From  V^z  to  Fleet  Street 204 

CHAPTER   XIII. 
From  Fez  to  Fleef  ?)TK1LET— (Continued)  .  .222 

CHAPTER   XIV. 
From  Fez  to  Fleet  Street— (Ct^;/ //////<.•</)  .        .        .    236 

CHAPTER   XV. 
Our  Journey  to  Tetuan 258 

CHAPTER    XVI. 
Our  Journey  to  Tetuan— (Ct;////////tv/)       .  .    2S2 

CHAPTER   XVII. 
Tut  Jews  in  Morocco J13 

CHAPTER   XVIII. 
Slavery  and  Protection 328 

AIM'ENDl.X 339 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Map  of  Morocco. 
The  Sultan 


The  Sultan's  Palace  at  Fez 

Sir  Charles  Euan-Smith 

The  Sultan's  Ministry  or  Divan 

Sid  Gharnet        .... 

Mulai  Hassan  going  through  his  Correspondence 

The  Sultan  at  the  head  of  his  army 

The  Sultan's  son  returning  from  his  bath 

Lady  Euan- Smith  and  daughter 

A  Moorish  soldier  (Swani  man) 

The  Reception  of  the  Mission  by  the  Sultan 

The  Riot  before  the  Mission 

Bushta  closes  the  Gates 

The  interview  between  Sir  Charles  and  the  Sultan 

Sir  Charles  tears  up  the  bogus  Treaty 

Beggars  at  entrance  of  British  Mission 

Taking  leave  of  the  Sultan  ..... 

A  IMoorish  Cafe 

A  Tafilet  Merchant  on  his  Mehari  (camel) 
The  Sultan's  sword  and  Shereefian  belt     . 

The  Sultan's  letter 

The  Sultan's  visit  to  Tetuan       .... 
View  of  Fez         ....... 

The  Shereef  of  Wazzan 

Interior  of  Sultan's  Palace  at  Fez 
Bringing  in  dishes  at  Sid  Gharnet's  dinner 


To  face  page  i 

PAGE 
29 

37 
43 
49 
57 
69 

75 
81 

89 

97 
loi 

107 
III 


119 
129 
135 
139 
147 
157 
163 
165 
167 
169 
171 


VIM 


I./ST   or  /I.I.rSTKAT/OXS. 


Woman's  Day  in  the  Mosque  of  Moulai  Edriss 

A  typical  Student        .... 

A  Minaret  of  the  Kairouin 

Facsimile  of  map  of  the  world  as  used  by  the  Univ 

of  Fez 

Court-yards  of  Kairouin 
Visit  to  our  Bankers  .... 
The  ghastly  view  of  the  City  gate 
To  make  the  Blind  see 
Powder  play  of  Beni-Hassan 
Moorish  Massage       .... 
.Storming  a  sleeping  City    . 
At  H'mam  Slawi's  house    . 
Crossing  the  Straits  in  a  Falucca 
Starting  for  the  Interior 
Interior  of  Sid  Bricho's  Palace  . 
Tomb  of  Sidi  Boazza  in  the  Sahcl  Wood 
Tetuan  Woman  .... 

A  Moorish  Lawyer      .... 
Tetuan  Women  in  Market-place 
The  Susi  Snake-charmer   . 
The  Bride  in  the  Wedding  Box 
Street  Performance  in  Tetuan    . 


crsity 


PACE 
187 

211 
217 
22C 
231 

237 
241 

261 
267 
271 
277 
283 
285 
2S9 
294 
303 


\  'Ma 


-^^yy 


^■y- 


\ 


llll       M   I.IAN. 


y'(»  facf  t>agt  I. 


MOROCCO   AS    IT   IS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

DECLINE   OF   THE   SHEREEFIAN   EMPIRE. 

Geographical  description — The  Aboriginal  Maurii — Barbary  a 
Roman  Province — The  conquest  by  the  Moslem  Sulhama 
— The  inhabitants  and  population  at  the  present  day — 
Tangier  as  an  English  Crown-Colony — The  Caliphate  of 
Cordova — Death  of  King  Roderic — Christian  captives 
released  by  an  English  Embassy — The  King  of  the 
Algarves — Mulai  Ismael — Mulai  Hassan — The  Pirates  of 
the  Herculean  Straits — French  and  Spanish  Wars — The 
efforts  of  England  to  avert  a  catastrophe  in  Morocco. 

Western  Barbary,  the  Empire  of  Morocco,  or,  as 
it  called  by  its  inhabitants,  Al  Moghreb-al-Aksa, ''  the 
extreme  West,"  lies  between  27  deg.  and  36  deg, 
north  lat.  and  between  i  deg.  and  1 1  deg.  west 
long.  It  is  about  half  again  as  large  as  Spain  and 
Portugal  taken  together.  The  surface  of  the  country- 
is  diversified  by  high  mountain  ranges.  The  Atlas 
traverses  the  country  in  three  distinct  sierras  or 
ridges.  The  valleys  and  plains  between  the  mountain 
ranges  are  of  great  extent  and  of  extraordinary  fer- 
tility.   The  country  is  well  watered  by  large  rivers,  and 


MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

though  the  irrigation  works,  constructed  by  the 
Romans,  have  fallen  entirely  into  disuse.  Where 
agriculture  is  practised  it  is  with  the  most  primitive 
implements  and  in  the  crudest  fashion  imaginable. 
Yet  such  is  the  richness  of  the  soil,  the  crops  are 
often  enormous.  It  is  only  the  fanaticism  and  the 
folly  of  its  present  rulers  that  prevents  Morocco 
from  becoming  once  again  as  it  was  for  five  or  six 
centuries  the  granary  of  Europe. 

The  coast  line  along  the  Mediterranean  from   the 
mouth  of  the  Muluya  to  Cape  Spartel  is  bold   and 
rocky.     From  Ras-ashacar,  as  the  natives  call  Cape 
Spartel,  down  the  Atlantic  coast   to  Laraiche    the 
rock-bound  coast  continues,  several  high  promontories 
rising  out  of  the  sea  to  a  height  of  nearly  2500  feet. 
From  Laraiche  south  the  coast  is  sandy,  with  many 
shifting   shoals,  and    navigation    is  very   dangerous. 
Mauritania,  as  it  was  called    by  the    ancients,  came 
into  our  history  in  the  year  V,.Z.  45,  as  a  Roman  pro- 
vince, with  Sallust,  the  historian,  as  its  pro-consul.    A 
hundred  years    later    Barbary    was    divided    by    the 
Emperor  Claudius  into  two  provinces,  separated   by 
the  river  now  known   as  the  Muluya.     The  western 
province  was  known  as  Mauritania  Tingitana,  which 
corresponds   roughly    with   the    Morocco   of  to-day. 
The  other  province  lying  cast  of  the  Muluj'a   was 
called  Mauritania  Caesariensis,  which  covers  about  the 
.same  territory  as  Algeria  and  Tunis  of  to-day.     The 
western  province  was  inhabited  by  the  Mauri,  a  fierce 
and  warlike  race  of  men,  who  were  never  thoroughly 
subdued  by  the  Romans.     The  Mazirghis  or  Berbers 
of  the  present  day  arc  their  descendants,  and  still 
retain  their   haughty   and  ind "pendcnt    spirit.     The 


DECLINE   OF   THE   SHEREEFIAN  EMPIRE.  3 

Vandals  entered  Africa  from  Spain,  and  conquered 
the  whole  country  as  far  eastwards  as  Carthage,  until 
defeated  by  Belisarius,  who  recovered  the  whole  of 
Northern  Africa  for  the  Roman  Empire,  A.D.  534. 
The  Saracens  made  a  dash  through  the  country  in 
672,  but  it  was  only  towards  the  middle  of  the  eighth 
century  that  Mahommedan  rule  was  anything  like 
firmly  established  in  the  country.  In  fact  it  was 
only  towards  the  middle  of  the  eleventh  century 
that  Abdallah-ben-Yasim  founded  the  Empire  of  the 
Almorvarides,  which  signifies  men  consecrated  to  the 
service  of  God.  There  have  since  been  many  civil 
and  dynastic  wars,  but  a  descendant  or  a  reputed 
descendant  of  the  Prophet  has  from  that  day  always 
held  the  sceptre. 

At  the  present  day  Morocco  is  very  thinly  settled,  the 
population  not  exceeding,  if  reaching,  eight  millions, 
of  whom  only  three  millions  are  Moors,  five  hundred 
thousand  Arabs  of  pure  descent,  two  million  Berbers  , 
a  million  and  a  half  Shelluhs,  three  hundred  thousand 
Jews,  and  about  half  a  million  negroes,  slaves  brought 
from  the  Soudan,  or  descendants  of  slaves.  There 
are  only  about  five  thousand  Europeans  in  the  coun- 
try, almost  all  of  whom  are  Spaniards  living  in  the 
coast  towns.  The  prevailing  rehgion  is  Mahomme- 
danism,  and  nowhere  are  its  tenets  and  observances 
more  rigidly  enforced.  The  chief  articles  of  belief 
of  Mahommedans  are  that  there  is  but  one  God, 
by  whose  divine  providence  and  absolute  predes- 
tination the  destinies  of  mankind  have  from 
eternity  been  decreed.  Abraham  is  the  chief  ex- 
ample of  the  true  believer,  and  to  him  as  well   as  to 

B  2 


4  MOROCCO  AS   IT  IS. 

Adam,  Noah,  Moses,  and  Christ,  the  will  of  God  and 
His  divine  laws  were  often  and  fully  declared.  But 
Mahomet,  of  course,  is  the  last  and  far  most  illustrious 
prophet.  With  him  the  divine  missions  have  ceased, 
and  the  Koran  must  be  revered  as  the  only  genuine 
revelation  by  which  former  religions  are  to  be  corro- 
borated and  verified. 

England  had  at  one  time  a  great  material  interest 
in  Morocco.  Tangier  and  the  undefined  Hinterland, 
though  that  delightfully  diplomatic  expression  was  not 
in  common  use  then,  came  to  England  as  part  of  the 
dowry  of  Catherine,  Infanta  of  Portugal,  who  married 
Charles  H.  It  was  an  unlucky  wedding  present,  and 
brought  with  it  more  trouble  than  in  the  eyes  of  our 
seventeenth-century  forefathers  Morocco  was  con- 
sidered to  be  worth.  Strangely  enough  the  Island 
of  Bombay  formed  another  part  of  the  dowry  of  the 
Infanta,  and  had  the  same  pluck,  tenacity,  and  enter- 
prise shown  by  the  luiglish  on  the  Indian  Ocean  been 
exhibited  on  the  Mediterranean,  it  is  not  very  difficult 
to  say  what  would  be  the  political  complexion  of  North 
Africa  to-day.  The  swampy,  insignificant  Island  of 
Bombay  grew  to  be  the  Indian  Empire  of  to-day,  but 
Tangier,  after  a  chequered  career  of  twenty  years 
under  the  British  ensign,  was  dismantled  and  deserted, 
and,  together  with  the  surrounding  countr\',  fell  back 
into  the  hands  of  the  Moors.  Possibly  the  good  King 
of  Portugual  presented  it  to  his  son  in-law  because  he 
himself  could  hold  it  no  longer  against  the  impetuous 
and  unremitting  attacks  of  the  Moors.  Certainly  the 
fleet  under  Lord  Sandwich,  that  was  despatched  to 
take  possession  of  Tangier,  arrived  only  in  time  to  save 


DECLINE    OF   THE   SHEREEFIAN  EMPIRE.  5 

the  Portuguese  garrison  from  being  totally  annihilated 
by  a  besieging  force.  The  government  of  the  day 
had  great  expectations  of  the  commercial  and  colonial 
advantages  that  would  accrue  from  the  new  appanage 
to  the  crown,  and  it  is  impossible  to  say  at  this  late 
date  why  they  were  not  realized.  The  unremitting 
hostility  of  the  Moors,  and  their  sturdy  opposition  to 
all  overtures  of  peace,  probably  had  something  to  do 
with  the  manner  in  which  the  enterprise  was  relin- 
quished. Large  sums  of  money  were  voted  by  Parlia- 
ment for  strengthening  the  fortifications  of  the  town  ; 
a  magnificent  mole,  the  ruins  of  which  are  still  visible 
above  the  water,  was  constructed,  extending  nearly 
2000  feet  out  into  the  sea.  A  secure  harbour  was 
formed  capable  of  containing  the  largest  ships,  and 
preparations  were  even  made  for  "floating  "  companies 
to  exploit  the  new  colonies. 

Had  England  been  in  possession  of  Gibraltar  at 
the  time,  it  is  more  than  probable  that  Tangier  would 
never  have  been  relinquished.  Certainly  a  century 
later  Nelson  said  that  the  step  was  a  grievous  error, 
and  that  Gibraltar  could  never  be  considered  im- 
pregnable until  Tangier  was  in  the  hands  of  the 
Enghsh.  The  interest  at  first  taken  in  England  in 
the  new  possession  waned  very  rapidly.  The  holding 
of  Tangier  proved  an  enormous  expense.  Hardly  a 
day  passed  but  what  there  was  an  encounter  between 
the  garrison  of  the  place  and  the  Moors.  The  gar- 
rison lived  in  a  state  of  perpetual  warfare,  and  were 
constantly  harassed  by  their  wily  enemies.  The 
Earl  of  Teviott,  the  governor  of  the  garrison,  lost 
his  life,  together  with  a  score  of  officers  and  a  large 


0  MOROCCO  AS  IT  IS. 

number  of  men,  in  June,  1664.     The  event  is  quaintly 
described  by  Pepys  as  follows  : — 

"  It  seems  my  Lord  Teviott's  design  was  to  go  a 
mile  and  a  half  out  of  the  town  to  cut  down  a  wood 
in  which  the  enemy  did  use  to  lie  in  ambush.  He 
had  sent  several  spyes  ;  but  all  brought  word  that 
the  way  was  clear,  and  so  mii^ht  be  for  anybody's 
discovery  of  an  enemy  before  you  are  upon  them. 
There  they  were  all  snapt,  he  and  all  his  officers,  and 
about  200  men,  as  they  say  ;  there  being  now  left  in 
the  garrison  but  four  captains.  This  happened  the 
third  of  May  last,  being  not  before  that  day  twelve- 
month of  his  entering  into  his  government  there  ; 
but  at  his  going  out  in  the  morning  he  said  to  some 
of  his  officers,  'Gentlemen,  let  Ui  look  to  ourselves, 
for  it  was  this  day  three  years  that  so  many  brave 
Englishmen  were  knocked  on  the  head  by  the  Moors, 
when  Fines  made  his  sally  out.' " 

It  is  not  my  intention  here  to  enter  into  the  his- 
tory of  the  Moors  in  Spain,  or  the  rise  and  fall  of  the 
Caliphate  of  Cordova.  During  the  reign  of  King 
Wamba,  however,  the  Saracens  made  many  piratical 
descents  upon  the  coast  of  Spain.  This  was  towards 
the  end  of  the  seventh  century.  It  is  curious  to 
relate  that  it  was  at  the  invitation  of  a  Christian 
tiiirsting  for  revenge  that  the  Moslems  first  entered 
Andalusia,  from  which  it  took  so  many  years  and 
such  expenditure  of  blood  and  treasure  to  expel 
them.  It  was  in  the  year  710,  shortly  after  the 
Moslems  were  firmly  established  in  Tangier,  that  a 
Gothic  nobleman  named  Count  Julian,  Governor  of 
Andalusia,    wlio.sc    daughter   had    suffered    a   great 


DECLINE   OF   THE   SHEREEFIAN  EMPIRE.  J 

wrong  at  the  hands  of  King  Roderic,  entered  into  a 
conspiracy  with  the  Mahommedans  to  admit  their 
troops  into  the  southern  part  of  Spain.  At  his 
invitation  Prince  Tarik  landed  at  Calpe  Rock,  now 
called  after  him  Gibraltar,  and  in  the  same  year, 
after  having  received  strong  reinforcements,  Tarik 
fought  a  great  battle  near  Jarez,  in  which  King 
Roderic  was  killed  and  the  Gothic  Empire  in  Spain 
overthrown. 

Owing  to  the  expense  and  the  great  loss  of  life 
entailed  by  the  defence  of  the  place,  and  the  impres- 
sion which  prevailed  in  the  House  of  Commons  that 
the  garrison  of  Tangier  was  fast  becoming  the  nu- 
cleus of  a  Popish  army,  Lord  Dartmouth  was  sent 
out  to  Morocco  in  January,  1683,  to  destroy  the 
fortifications  and  evacuate  the  place,  which  was  done 
after  an  occupation  of  twenty  years.  It  is  interesting 
to  recall  that  it  was  in  Morocco  that  "handsome 
John  Churchill,"  afterwards  the  Duke  of  Marlboro^, 
first  saw  service.  He  was  an  ensign  in  the  King's 
Guard,  and  served  in  the  Tangier  garrison  for  two 
years ;  but  there  are,  I  believe,  no  records  extant  of 
his  life  and  exploits  there. 

In  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries  the 
Barbary  coast  was  noted  as  the  home  of  the  Salee 
pirates.  Thousands  and  thousands  of  English  sailors 
during  those  years  were  captured  by  the  pirates  off 
the  Moorish  coast,  and  carried  in  chains  into  the  in- 
terior towns,  whence  very  few  of  them  ever  returned. 
In  the  year  1721  the  Sultan^  Muley  Ismael,  noted  for 
his  cruelty,  the  number  of  his  wives  and  his  five  thou- 
sand children,  held    in    captivity    in    the    capital    of 


8  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

iMequincz  alone  about  a  thousand  Christians.  The 
story  of  their  cruel  treatment  at  the  hands  of  their 
taskmasters  aroused  public  feeling  in  England, 
and  a  special  embassy  was  despatched  by  the 
Government  of  the  day  to  endeavour  to  obtain  their 
release.  The  envoy  chosen  was  Commodore  Stewart, 
of  the  navy,  who  was  accompanied  by  Master  John 
Windus,  to  whom  we  are  indebted  for  an  exceedingly 
quaint  description  of  the  conditions  of  life  in  Morocco 
at  the  time  of  which  he  writes.  Unfortunately,  the 
embassy  found,  on  its  arrival  in  Mequinez,  that  a 
very  large  number  of  the  captives,  in  the  hope  of 
bettering  their  condition,  had  apostatized,  and  had 
been  received  in  the  mosques  as  Mahommedans. 
They  had  also  married  Moorish  women.  In  spite 
of  the  entreaties  of  these  men,  who  seem  to  have 
wanted  to  be  relieved  at  once  from  their  new  religious 
and  matrimonial  tics,  the  Sultan  absolutely  refused 
to  liberate  them.  Those  of  the  captives,  however, 
who  had  dwelt  in  single  blessedness  and  remained 
true  to  their  Church  were  liberated,  and  Commodore 
Stewart  escorted  them  back  to  the  coast.  There 
were  about  300  Europeans  in  all,  of  whom  about  120 
were  ICnglish.  The  original  number  of  these  captives 
in  Mequinez  had  been  very  great,  but  ch'seasc,  the 
climate,  and  the  severity  of  their  treatment  had  more 
than  decimated  their  numbers.  As  to  how  they 
were  decimated,  Windus  gives  the  following  interest- 
ing description  : — 

"When  the  Sultan  was  angry  with  the  Moors,  then 
the  Christian  slaves  were  in  favour,  and  he  would 
sometimes  talk  to  them,  caUing  tlicm  lion  Christiano^ 


DECLINE    OF    THE   SHEREEFIAN  EMPIRE.  9 

and  wishing  God  would  give  them  their  liberty  ! 
His  wrath  is  terrible,  which  the  Christians  have  some- 
times felt,  for  one  day,  passing  by  a  high  wall  on 
which  they  were  at  work,  and  being  affronted  that 
they  did  not  keep  time  in  their  stroke  as  he  expected 
them  to,  he  made  his  guards  go  up  and  throw 
them  all  off  the  wall,  breaking  their  legs  and  arms, 
and  knocking  them  on  the  head  in  a  miserable 
manner." 

Another  time  he  had  one  of  the  Christians  buried 
alive,  and  beaten  down  along  with  the  mortar  in  the 
wall. 

Portugal  for  several  hundred  years  was  in  posses- 
sion of  most  of  the  Moorish  towns  on  the  Atlantic 
coast,  and  the  second  title  of  the  Kings  of  Portugal 
to-day  is  that  of  King  of  the  Algarves,  referring  to 
their  Moorish  possessions  which  have  disappeared 
like  their  Indian  dependencies.  At  one  time  also 
Portugal  was  in  possession  of  the  northern  coast  as 
far  inland  as  Al-Kesar,  and  in  1578  Dom  Sebastian, 
King  of  Portugal,  equipped  an  army  with  which  he 
hoped  to  overrun  the  whole  country.  He  was,  how- 
ever, defeated  and  killed  near  Al-Kesar.  From  this 
time  the  Portuguese  power  in  North-West  Africa 
began  to  wane,  until  with  the  cession  of  Tangier  to 
the  English  in  1660  it  almost  disappeared. 

In  1675  a  British  Envoy  arrived  at  the  Shereefian 
court  for  the  purpose  of  negotiating  a  peace,  as  Tangier 
was  at  that  time  held  by  England,  although  constantly 
in  a  state  of  siege  owing  to  the  hostility  of  the  Moors. 
Muley  Ismael  favoured  the  proposal,  but  a  fanatical 
marabout   having   told  him    that   the    Prophet    had 


lO  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

appeared  to  him  and  said  that  he  would  assist  the 
Emperor  to  conquer  all  his  enemies,  provided  he 
refused  to  make  peace  with  the  English,  Ismael 
kissed  the  dirty  face  of  the  saint,  and  then  excused 
himself  to  the  British  Envoy  on  the  plea  of  not 
daring  to  incur  the  Prophet's  displeasure — a  specious 
pretext  such  as  is  never  wanting  when  the  Sheree- 
fian  Court,  to  cover  its  duplicity  and  hypocrisy, 
wishes  to  back  out  of  its  engagements,  or  to  break 
off  any  negotiation. 

Strangely  enough,  over  two  hundred  years  later  the 
same  line  of  argument  was  followed  by  the  present 
Sultan  ;  and  the  same  reasons,  the  fear  of  offending 
his  fanatical  subjects,  advanced  as  good  and  sufficient 
for  not  signing  the  commercial  treaty  proposed  by 
Sir  Charles  Euan-Smith. 

Owing  to  the  depredations  of  the  Barbary  pirates 
the  diplomatic  relations  of  Morocco  with  the  Euro- 
pean powers  have  during  the  last  two  hundred  years 
been  at  various  times  very  strained,  and  with  the 
possible  exception  of  Salee  and  its  holy  mosque, 
[)erhaps  every  port  town  of  the  country  has  been  at 
one  lime  or  another  bombarded  by  the  Christians. 
Finally,  however,  an  arrangement  rather  discreditable 
to  us  was  reached,  by  which  all  the  commercial 
nations  whose  ships  frequented  the  Ilciculean  Straits 
consented  to  pay  the  Sultan  an  annual  tribute  pro- 
portioned to  the  value  of  their  commerce  in  the 
Barbary  Seas,  in  return  for  which  the  Sultan  promised 
his  good  offices  to  restrain  the  piratical  proclivities 
of  the  Salee  and  Saffi  sailors.  This  discreditable 
tribute  was  paid  annually  by  the  representatives   of 


DECLINE   OF   THE   SHEREEFIAN  EMPIRE.  II 

the  European  powers  in  the  form  of  a  free  gift  to 
the  Sultan  for  nearly  200  years.  It  was  only  dis- 
continued after  the  bombardment  of  Mogador  and 
Tangier  (1844)  by  the  French  under  the  Prince  de 
Joinville.  The  Spanish  war  of  i860  rather  added  to 
than  detracted  from  the  very  high  estimate  the 
Moors  have  always  had  of  their  own  military  prowess. 
While  the  Spaniards  fought  with  great  bravery  and 
succeeded  in  bringing  about  a  peace  a  stipulation 
of  which  was  that  the  Sultan  should  pay  a  war 
indemnity  and  cede  several  unimportant  patches  of  his 
territory,  the  fact  still  remains  that  it  took  them 
almost  two  years  to  advance  twenty  miles  into 
the  interior  of  Morocco,  and  that  in  so  doing  they 
lost  by  disease  and  death  in  battle  20,000  men,  and 
expended  as  many  millions  of  pounds  in  munitions 
of  war. 

The  policy  of  the  rulers  of  Morocco  during  the 
past  half  century  has  been  one  of  complete  isolation 
from  the  rest  of  the  world,  Mahommedan  as  well  as 
Christian.  In  this  policy  they  have  thought  to  find 
safety  from  the  openly  designed  encroachments  of 
Christian  neighbours.  In  the  execution  of  this  policy 
the  Moorish  Government  was  strongly  supported  by 
Sir  John  Drummond  Hay,  for  over  thirty  years,  I 
believe^  her  Majesty's  representative  at  the  Shereefian 
Court.  Sir  John  Drummond  Hay  discouraged 
Europeans  from  settling  in  the  country.  He  was 
averse  to  the  removal  of  the  restrictions  the  Sultan, 
with  fanatical  purpose,  had  placed  on  commerce.  It 
seemed  to  the  spectators  of  the  game  that  he 
regarded    Moorish    affairs    from    the    standpoint    of 


12  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

Moulai  Edriss,  rather  than  from  the  point  of  view  of 
the  Foreign  Office.  Certainly  this  policy  resulted 
in  certain  political  and  strategic  advantages.  Since 
the  days  of  Nelson  it  would  seem  to  have  been  an 
unwritten  instrument  of  the  British  Constitution  that 
no  Christian  power  should  be  allowed  to  set  foot  on 
the  mainland  of  Northern  Morocco,  from  which  they 
could  command  the  entrance  to  the  Mediterranean 
and  menace  Gibraltar.  While  thousands  of  valu- 
able lives  and  millions  of  money  were  being  spent 
by  England  and  Englishmen  in  the  violent  laying 
of  hands  on  various  undesirable  African  swamps, 
Morocco,  one  of  the  garden  spots  of  the  earth,  was 
left  severely  alone,  with  only  Sir  John  Hay  placed 
over  it  as  a  watch- dog  to  see  that  no  other  Euro- 
pean power  should  annex  it. 

As  far  as  the  strategic  position  of  England  at  the 
entrance  to  the  Mediterranean  was  concerned,  this 
policy  was  the  next  best  thing  to  formally  taking 
possession  of  the  country.  During  the  past  decade, 
however,  there  have  been  visible  on  the  political 
horizon  signs  and  S}-mbols  which  would  seem  to 
indicate  that  the  days  of  the  dynasty  of  the  Fileli 
Sherccfs  arc  ncaring  an  end.  The  Shcrecfian  au- 
thority is  growing  visibly  weaker,  and  the  designs 
of  Spain  and  of  France  upon  the  country  daily 
more  manifest.  In  the  belief  that  if  the  Sultan  could 
be  persuaded  to  .sign  a  commerci.il  treaty  that 
wouki  give  the  world  of  commerce  a  tlesire  to  still 
further  support  the  present  tixittte  in  Morocco,  and 
an  interest  in  its  continuance,  the  present  situation  so 
advantageous  to  the  interests  of  the  British  Empire, 


DECLINE    OF    THE   SHEREEFIAN  EMPIRE.  1 3 

at  the  mouth  of  Herculean  Straits,  might  still  be 
maintained  for  a  score  of  years^  Sir  Charles  Euan- 
Smith  was  sent  to  Fez,  His  mission  was  a  failure, 
and  England  is  now  confronted  with  the  Western 
Question,  a  delicate  puny  child  of  the  last  decade 
that  promises  to  give  Europe  more  serious  trouble 
than  even  the  "  Sick  man  "  who  hangs  on  to  political 
existence  at  the  other  end  of  the  Midland  Sea. 
Lord  Salisbury  has  said  that  the  present  condition 
of  Morocco  may  at  any  moment  become  a  menace 
to  the  peace  of  Europe.  Last  January  M.  Ribot 
was  cheered  to  the  echo  when  he  spoke  of  an  armed 
intervention  of  France  in  Morocco.  I  should  not 
then  be  accused  of  alarmist  tendencies  when  I  add 
that  the  present  situation  in  Morocco  is  fraught 
with  many  grave  perils,  and  that  it  demands  the 
closest  attention  in  the  interests  of  peace. 


CHAPTER   II. 

THE   WESTERN   QUESTION. 

Prince  Bismarck's  prophecy — All  Christendom  apparently 
united — The  disillusion  of  the  "  Bashador  "  on  reaching  the 
Shereefian  Court— The  granary  of  the  world — The  Sultan's 
power — The  Embassy  of  the  Shereefs  to  His  Holiness — 
French  dreams  of  Empire — Another  "  Scientific  "  frontier — 
The  Missionary  work  of  the  "  Roumis  " — The  diplomatic 
antecedents  of  the  French  Minister — The  present  French 
Mission  to  Fez — Bou-Amcna  and  his  Touregs — Annoying 
saints — England's  policy — The  diplomacy  of  Sir  John  Hay 
— The  security  of  Gibraltar — Tangier  necessary  to  Eng- 
land— The  attitude  of  Germany — Her  commercial  and 
diplomatic  interests — Spain's  cry  for  "poetic  justice" — 
The  success  of  H'mam's  rebellion. 

WlHLE  the  red  flag  of  the  Barbary  Corsairs  has  long 
since  disappeared  from  the  seas,  the  political  future  of 
the  Empire  which  they  founded  and  made  infamous 
throughout  Christendom  still  causes  the  statesmen 
of  the  Mediterranean  powers  many  a  sleepless  night. 
For,  despite  the  many  well-meant  attempts  to  keep 
it  in  the  background,  the  Western  question  looms  up 
darkly  on  the  political  horizon,  ominous  of  serious 
diplomatic  comi^lications,  if  of  nothing  worse,  in  the 
immediate  future. 

It   is  but  another  proof  of  the   fact    that    Prince 


1) 
(J 

Ph 

to 

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ri 
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C/2 


l6  MOROCCO   AS   IT   IS. 

Bismarck  possesses  the  gift  of  political  foresight  and 
discernment,  to  recall  that  now  some  ten  years  ago, 
when  the  coming  danger  was  apparent  to  but  few  of 
us,  he  saw  the  lowering  war-clouds  that  are  gathering 
over  the  western  entrance  of  the  Mediterranean,  and 
was  the  first  statesman  in  authority  to  perceive  how 
dangerous  they  were  to  the  peace  of  Europe.  It  is 
a  matter  of  history  that  long  before  the  Western 
question  had  come  within  the  range  of  other  short- 
sighted mortals,  the  German  Chancellor  hazarded  the 
prophecy  that  towards  the  close  of  our  century  the 
Western  question  would  cause  as  great  a  stir  and 
pother  in  diplomatic  circles,  and  eventually  occasion 
as  much  shedding  of  blood,  as  did  the  Eastern  ques- 
tion in  the  fifties.  Let  us  trust  that  for  once  the 
Sage  of  Varzin  will  come  a  cropper  in  exercising 
the  functions  of  a  political  prophet,  which,  while  not 
without  honour,  arc  not  without  danger. 

But  the  signs  of  the  trouble  that  is  brewing  become 
daily  more  manifest,  and  the  indications  which 
multiply  unfortunately  all  point  in  the  same  dis- 
quieting direction.  No  disinterested  observer  can 
escape  the  conclusion  that  there  is  more  going  on 
here  behind  the  shifting  scenes  of  diplomacy  than  we 
poor  occupants  of  the  stalls  are  permitted  to  see. 
Another  not  altogether  novel  feature  of  the  imbroglio 
is,  that  whenever  the  wishes  and  desires  of  the  in- 
terested Mediterranean  powers  are  authoritatively  set 
forth  the  claims  of  all  seem  to  combine  and  coincide 
in  the  most  charming  manner.  There  is  no  clashing 
of  interest,  and  such  a  thing  as  a  hitch  in  the  execu- 
tion of  the  expressed  will  of  the  powers  seems  quite 


THE    WESTERN   QUESTION.  1 7 

impossible.  It  is  quite  clear  that  all  the  nations  of 
Christendom  have  combined  in  the  spirit  of  the  Cru- 
saders to  bring  about  a  new  order  of  things  in  this 
truly  benighted  country.  They  would  seem  to  have 
combined  in  the  most  Christian  spirit  to  convert  the 
Sultan  and  his  viziers  from  their  heathen  ways,  to 
manumit  the  black  slave,  to  shield  the  cringing  Jew 
from  his  taskmaster  and  oppressor,  and,  in  other 
words,  to  make  commercial  intercourse  with  one  of 
the  richest  countries  of  the  world  possible  and  profit- 
able. 

But  the  moment  one  of  these  good  "  Bashadors  " 
goes  to  the  Shereefian  Court  en  mission^  and  endea- 
vours to  obtain  from  the  Sultan  the  concessions  which 
his  colleagues  have  encouraged  him  to  ask  for,  he 
finds  to  his  astonishment  that  the  Christian  ambassa- 
dors who  gave  him  the  escort  of  courtesy  for  several 
miles  out  of  Tangier,  and  who  wished  him  God-speed 
on  his  errand,  are  the  most  formidable  adversaries  he 
has  to  cope  with  at  the  Shereefian  Court.  Further, 
should  the  misguided  Moor,  seeing  how  divided 
are  the  councils  of  the  Christian  nations^  think  fit  to 
insult,  or  even  maltreat,  the  innovator,  he  will  learn 
with  surprise,  if,  after  a  stay  at  the  Shereefian  Court, 
he  be  capable  of  such  an  emotion,  that  the  treatment 
he  has  met  with  at  the  hands  of  the  Moor  is  viewed 
by  his  colleagues  with  ill-concealed  approval,  or,  at 
best,  fraternally  shared  in  a  spirit  of  Christian  forti- 
tude and  resignation  truly  beautiful  to  view.  The 
Eastern  question  can  be  described  as  a  never-ending 
serial  of  twice-told  tales.  We  know  to  a  cipher  the 
hands  the  interested  powers  hold,  their  trumps,  and 

c 


1 8  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

their  weak  suites  ;  but  when  we  come  to  fathom  Ics 
an  dessous  of  the  Western  question,  our  investigations 
are  handicapped  at  the  outset  by  the  fact  that  in 
this  diplomatic  game  the  cards  as  yet  have  not  been 
shown,  nor  shall  I  in  this  chapter  give  my  readers 
the  benefit  of  any  telepathic  skill  I  may  possess. 
I  shall  not  even  offer  a  solution  to  the  question,  or 
propose  a  panacea  in  the  interests  of  peace.  In 
appreciation  of  this  self-denial  I  hope  that  what  I 
say  in  regard  to  the  actions  of  the  various  interested 
powers  will  be  received  as  the  result  of  observations 
made  by  one  who,  though  not  claiming  to  be,  or 
deserving  to  be,  accepted  as  an  exceptional  authority 
on  the  question,  still  occupies  the  somewhat  unusual 
position  of  not  having  any  patriotic  bias  or  commer- 
cial interest  at  stake.  Indeed  I  am  a  citizen  of  that 
great  power  which  may  suffer  in  her  commerce  for  a 
time  should  Morocco,  under  a  protectorate  or  in  other 
form,  be  induced  to  enter  upon  the  comity  of  nations. 
For  the  moment  the  Barbary  ports  are  thrown  open 
to  commerce,  and  the  corn  lands  of  the  country  culti- 
vated in  a  somewhat  less  primitive  fashion,  I  am  sure 
that  not  a  bushel  of  grain  will  be  brought  from  America 
to  Europe.  Morocco  will  have  become  again,  as  she 
was  for  so  many  centuries,  the  granary  of  Europe. 

But  there  are  one  or  two  facts  in  the  great  tangle 
of  surmise  and  conjecture  which  tend  to  obscure  the 
subject  that  it  is  well  to  remember.  First  among  these 
is  the  fact  that  the  only  basis  of  the  Sultan's  authority 
is  the  ignorance  and  the  fanaticism  of  his  people,  and 
that  being  well  aware  of  this,  the  Sultan  spares  no 
effort  to  encourage  ihcm   in    ihcir   brutish    backward 


THE    WESTERN  QUESTION.  1 9 

tendencies.  Again,  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that 
so  weak  is  the  Imperial  or  federal  power,  that  only 
by  playing  the  unneighbourly  tribesmen  against  one 
another  does  the  Sultan  succeed  in  remaining  master 
of  the  situation. 

The  combined  intellectual  force  of  the  Sultan's 
religious  and  diplomatic  advisers,  his  fukies,  notables^ 
and  oolemas,  is  engaged  in  devising  some  way  in 
which  the  present  system  of  protection  to  the  native- 
born  agents  and  servants  of  Europeans  may  be 
abolished.  This  system,  which  the  Powers  have  found 
necessary  for  the  protection  of  those  enlightened 
natives,  who  by  entering  into  commercial  relations 
with  Europeans  have  kept  Morocco  in  touch  with 
the  outside  world,  and  prevented  its  relapse  into 
barbarism.  In  so  diminishing  the  taxable  basis  of  the 
Empire,  and  in  other  ways  limiting  and  restricting 
the  power  of  the  Sultan,  the  protection  system  cer- 
tainly has  its  drawback.  Both  in  theory  and  in  its 
workings  the  protection  system  is  resented  by  the 
Shereefs.  Still,  before  abrogating  present  treaty 
rights  Christian  diplomats  should  be  very  careful 
to  see  that  the  recently  proposed  system  of  mixed 
tribunals,  not  only  in  theory  but  in  practice,  offers 
as  effective  a  check  to  the  cruelty  of  the  Moors  as 
does  the  present  custom  of  protection  without  pos- 
sessing any  of  its  disadvantages. 

This  very  strong  desire  of  the  Sultan  for  the 
abolishment  of  the  present  system  of  protection  we 
have  to  thank  for  the  most  picturesque  scene  that 
the  kaleidoscope  of  European  politics  has  revealed 
to  us   in   the  last  few   years.      Without    a    word    of 

C    2 


20  MOROCCO   AS   IT   IS. 

warning,  even  unheralded  by  rumour,  an  embassy  of 
Shereefs,  all  reputed  descendants  of  the  Prophet,  left 
Tangier  in  1888  on  a  frigate  of  Her  Catholic  Majesty 
the  Queen  Regent  of  Spain,  disembarked  at  Civita 
Vecchia,  and,  entering  the  Eternal  City  as  pilgrims, 
besought  an  audience  of  His  Holiness  the  Pope. 
Their  request  was  graciously  granted,  and  on  the 
following  day  the  Vicar  of  Christ  on  earth  and  the 
children  of  Mahomet  discussed  the  protege  system. 
The  Shereefs  requested  His  Holiness  to  intercede 
with  the  Christian  powers  in  their  behalf,  and  to 
exert  his  great  influence  in  favour  of  the  abolition  of 
the  obnoxious  system.  His  Holiness  promised  his 
good  offices,  and  the  Shereefs  returned  from  the  City 
of  Seven  Hills  to  Fez  on  the  vine-clad  slopes  of  Giebel 
Salah.  Nothing  ever  came  of  this  embassy,  but  it 
was  a  magnificent  theatrical  coup,  and  seemed  to 
indicate  that  the  Moors  possess  rather  a  fine  political 
sense.  For  before  this  embassy  the  representatives 
of  European  powers  seemed  quite  decided  on  an 
identical  plan  of  action  at  the  Shereefian  Court 
to  put  an  end  to  grievances  which  present  treaty 
rights  seem  powerless  to  remed}-.  Since  this 
embassy,  and  as  a  result  of  it,  their  bickerings  and 
disunion  have  been  more  apparent  than  ever.  So 
the  embassy  should  not  be  remembered  simply  as  an 
interesting  and  picturesque  pageant,  though  as  such 
it  was  certainly  unique. 

France,  with  her  dream  of  a  great  ICmpire  in  North 
Africa  but  partially  realized, -naturally  wishes  to 
obtain  strong  diplomatic  if  not  territorial  position 
on  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar.  The  demands,  however, 
that  I'Vance  makes  upon  Morocco  openly  before  all 


THE    WESTERN  QUESTION.  21 

the  world  are  so  just  and  so  insignificant  that  as  they 
are  not  granted  we  are  almost  forced  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  the  Shereefian  Court  is  better  informed  as 
to  the  real  designs  of  France  on  the  country  than  out- 
side observers.  Through  her  accredited  diplomatic 
agents  France  only  demands  a  new  western  frontier 
for  Algeria  along  the  banks  of  the  Mulaya,  and  the 
cession  of  that  portion  of  the  Touat  country,  which 
is  undoubtedly  the  connecting  and  indispensable  link 
between  her  Lake  Tchad  and  Senegal  possessions 
and  her  colonies  in  Northern  Africa.  But  in  addi- 
tion to  these  demands  France  certainly  does  desire  a 
railway  from  Tlemcen  to  Fez,  and  the  French  Em- 
bassy at  present  journeying  to  the  Moorish  capital  is 
empowered  by  their  Government  to  demand  a  con- 
cession for  such  a  railway.  This  statement  will  be 
authoritatively  denied  from  the  Quai  d'Orsai,  espe- 
cially if  the  mission  is  a  failure  ;  but  the  fact  is  none 
the  less  true.  French  statesmen  in  their  genial 
moods  admit  that  years  ago  they  did  harbour  terri- 
torial designs  upon  Morocco,  say  fifteen,  twenty 
years  ago,  but  they  have  long  since  given  up  such 
dreams  of  conquest.  With  these  frank  statements  it 
is  hard  to  coincide  the  presence  of  French  agents 
and  emissaries  throughout  the  country,  or  to  com- 
prehend the  great  outlay  and  the  great  pains  which 
are  being  taken  by  the  French  War  Office  in  draw- 
ing up  maps  of  Morocco — and  very  excellent  maps 
they  are.  The  way  in  which  French  agents  seem  to 
take  a  hand  in  any  local  uprising  or  rebellion 
against  the  Sultan  very  naturally  excites  sus- 
picions. 

In  making  a  study  of  the  Western  question  which 


22  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

is  looming  up  before  us,  it  should  not  be  forf^otten 
that  France  is  the  country  most  feared  by  the  Moors. 
Of  French  power  they  have  a  very  appreciative  esti- 
mate. England  and  Germany  and  Italy  seem  far 
away,  and  their  power  is  intangible,  evanescent. 
Every  now  and  then  a  ship  of  war  is  seen  in  Tangier 
harbour  bearing  their  flags,  supporting  some  claim, 
but  the  bombardments  that  are  so  often  threatened 
never  come  off,  and  the  ships  sail  away.  But  the 
red-trousered  "roumis"  are  there,  right  on  the 
Moorish  frontier  at  h^l-Goleah  and  Insuffra,  only  200 
miles  away  from  the  sacred  mosque  of  Western  Bar- 
bary.  They  never  draw  back.  They  are  always 
advancing.  They  have  conquered  Algeria,  Tunis 
is  in  their  power,  and  the  fear  that  they  may  some 
day  undertake  the  conquest  of  Morocco  is  the  ab- 
sorbing thought  of  the  Sultan  and  of  his  viziers.  In 
view  of  the  negotiations  now  progressing  in  Fez,  it 
will  prove  interesting  to  look  into  the  antecedents  of 
Count  D'Aubigny,  the  present  French  minister-pleni- 
potentiary to  Morocco.  It  will  be  remembered  by 
close  observers  of  the  political  board,  that  Count 
D'Aubigny  was  the  Consul-General  in  Cairo 
when  Alexandria  was  bombarded.  It  will  also  be 
remembered  that  he  was  made  responsible  for  the 
failure  of  the  I'^ench  Government  of  the  day  to 
intervene,  an  abstention  which  has  never  ceased  to 
be  regretted  by  our  neighbours  across  the  Channel. 
The  crime  charged  against  Count  d'Aubigny  was  his 
failure  to  f(;rcscc  the  easy  collapse  of  Arabi's  rebel- 
lion and  his  so-called  national  parly.  The  nomina- 
tion  of    Count    D'Aubigny     by    M.    Kibot     tcj    the 


THE    WESTERN  QUESTION.  2$ 

Moorish  Mission  some  eighteen  months  ago  was  the 
signal  for  a  howl  of  indignation  from  the  French 
press,  and  even  those  papers  in  Paris  which  are  least 
likely  to  err  on  the  side  of  hasty  judgment  gave  vent 
to  loud  cries  of  disappointment.  Count  D'Aubigny 
had  been  allowed  to  lead  the  life  of  a  country  gentle- 
man for  several  years  after  the  Egyptian  campaign^ 
and,  as  the  Radical  papers  remarked,  after  giving 
their  unflattering  version  of  the  Egyptian  incident, 
should  be  allowed  to  cultivate  his  cabbages  in  peace. 
So  great  was  this  outcry,  that  it  was  perhaps  only 
owing  to  the  influence  of  M.  de  Freycinet,  the  present 
War  Minister,  for  whom  Count  D'Aubigny  in  the 
Egyptian  fiasco  would  seem  to  have  served  as  scape- 
goat, that  he  was  enabled  to  assume  his  present  post. 
But  even  with  such  a  powerful  supporter  it  was  not 
deemed  advisable  for  him  to  go  to  Tangier  until  after 
a  delay  of  nearly  a  year,  when  the  newspaper  outcry 
had  abated  somewhat,  and  a  new  Question  dujoiir  en- 
grossed the  attention  of  the  volatile  Parisians.  If  he 
ever  in  the  past  was  guilty  of  too  much  consideration 
for  English  claims,  and  a  too  conciliatory  attitude 
towards  la perfide  Albion,  he  never  will,  in  my  opinion, 
after  this  experience,  err  in  the  same  direction  again. 
The  demands  of  French  diplomacy  in  the  Touat  ques- 
tion, and  the  loudly  expressed  wish  of  the  Algerian 
Government  to  have  the  River  Muluya  as  a  western 
frontier,  are,  as  I  have  said,  very  small  concessions 
indeed,  and  if  the  Sultan  thereby  could  obtain  the 
frank  firm  friendship  of  his  eastern  neighbour,  I  am 
quite  certain  he  would  grant  these  concessions  and 
greater  ones.     But  while  it  is  true  that  the  Muluya 


24  MOROCCO  AS  IT  IS. 

where  it  empties  into  the  Mediterranean   is  hardly 
twenty  miles  west  of  Nemours,  the  last  coast  town  of 
Algeria,  inland  it  will   be  noticed  that  the  course  of 
the  river  is  distinctly  south-west  towards  its  source. 
The  new  frontier  which  the  French  propose  along 
its  banks  to  the  source  of  the  river  on  the  north  side 
of  Djcbcl-cl-abart  would  certainly  bring  the  French 
frontier  within  six  days'  easy  journey  through  fertile 
well-watered  valleys  to  the   Holy  City  itself.     This 
frontier-line   proposed    by    the    French    is    certainly 
very  scientific  and  clean  cut,  geographically  speaking, 
but  it  should  always  be  remembered  that  when  we 
hear  of  the  reluctance  of  the  Moors  to   make    the 
concession   that  it  would   certainly  place  them   at  a 
great  strategical   disadvantage,  as  the  strip  of  sand 
and  the  waterless  desert,  that  is  now  their   eastern 
border,  proved  in  the  days  of  Marshal  Bugeaud,  and 
is  now  a  very  strong  first  line  of  defence.     Up  to  the 
present   at  least,  the  Sultan  has  made  no  concession 
to  French  demands  in   the  Touat  question  ;  whether 
he  will  be  able  to  resist  the  importunity  of  the  French 
Embassy  now  in  Fez,  I   do  not  care  to  express  an 
opinion.     It  is  very  generally  believed  that  the  main 
object  of  Count  D'Aubigny's  Mission  is  to  reconsider 
and    go  over  the  cjucstion  of  the  possession  of  the 
Touat  oasis  again,  though  the  subject  would  seem  to 
have  dropped  out  of  sight  almost  entirely  during  the 
past  eighteen  months.     The  Sultan,  as  is  well  known, 
claims  that   the  desert  chiefs  of  this  neighbourhood, 
the  Amhari  and  the  Gourarah  tribesmen,  have  from 
time  immemorial  been  in  the  custom  of  paying  him 
and   his  predecessors  tribute.     The    French,  on   the 


THE    WESTERN  QUESTION.  2$ 

contrary,  claim  that  the  territory  in  question  is  a  "  No 
man's  land,"  and  that  they  have  rather  more  right 
to  it  than  anybody  else.  To  strengthen  their  pre- 
tensions and  to  inspire  the  Touregs  with  feelings  of 
friendship,  the  late  Shereef  of  Wazzan  and  the  Gov- 
ernor-General of  Algeria,  M.  Cambon,  visited  the 
country  in  great  state  last  spring.  They  conferred 
with  Bou-Amena  and  the  other  great  chieftains  of 
the  country,  and  I  think  it  will  be  found  if  hostilities 
should  ever  break  out  in  this  quarter,  that  the  un- 
tutored Touregs  have  been  induced  to  take  a  business- 
like view  of  the  situation,  and  are  keenly  alive  to  the 
fact  that  it  is  with  France  that  the  preponderance  of 
power  lies.  They  have  grasped  the  meaning  of  the 
Sud-Oranais  railway  and  its  many  branches,  which, 
during  the  last  few  months  have  been  so  hurriedly 
constructed,  and  when  next  it  suits  the  French 
Foreign  Office  to  make  an  advance  in  this  quarter  to 
secure  their  caravan  connection  with  Lake  Tchad 
and  Timbuctoo,  or  for  any  other  purpose,  I  feel  con- 
fident that  the  opposition  to  annexation  by  the  local 
chiefs  will,  in  a  great  measure,  have  disappeared.  If 
Bou-Amena  ever  sent  the  Sultan  Mulai  Hassan  dates 
from  his  oasis  in  token  of  submission  after  his  recent 
pow-wow  with  M.  Cambon,  he  will  send  them  no  more. 
That  there  are  good  and  cogent  reasons  to  justify 
the  desire  of  the  French  to  annex  the  Touat  I  have 
already  stated.  It  should  also  not  be  forgotten  that 
the  Moorish  tribes  on  the  Algerian  border  are  a  great 
annoyance  and  a  certain  danger  to  the  security  of 
Algeria.  Indeed  the  whole  country  is  one  nest  of 
fanatical  sects,  the  home  of  saints  who  never  weary  of 


26  MOROCCO  AS   IT  IS. 

inciting  the  Algerians  to  rebellion  against  the  autho- 
rity of  the  French.  Hardly  a  year  passes  but  what 
these  holy  men  either  go  themselves  or  send  emissaries 
into  Algeria,  and  by  their  preaching  bring  about  those 
little  rebellions  and  insurrections  which  help  to  make 
the  war  budget  of  the  colony  so  large  and  French 
tenure  of  the  colony  insecure.  After  these  rebellions 
have  been  suppressed  generally  at  a  great  expendi- 
ture of  money  and  of  life,  these  saints  generally 
make  good  their  retreat  back  into  Morocco,  where 
they  are  sure  of  a  warm  welcome,  and  where,  safe 
from  any  interruption,  they  plan  new  campaigns 
and  new  troubles  for  the  French.  It  is  on  these 
grounds  that  the  French  demand  a  better  frontier 
line. 

England's  policy  towards  Morocco  has  undergone 
a  complete  change  since  the  days  when  Sir  John 
Drummond  I  lay  was  the  British  pro-consul  in 
Western  liarbary,  and  a  great  power  behind  the 
Shcrecfian  umbrella.  England,  or  perhaps  it  would 
be  more  correct  to  say  Sir  John  Hay,  then  seemed 
only  desirous  of  keeping  Morocco  hermetically  sealed 
against  all  comers,  not  excepting  his  countrymen. 
Indeed,  he  made  no  secret  of  his  opinion  that  El- 
Moghrcbwas  not  a  proper  place  for  Christians  to  live 
in  except  those  who  were  compelled  to  reside  there 
officially.  This  policy,  though  short-sighted,  was 
certainly  very  successful  in  keeping  all  luiropeans 
out  of  the  country,  and  so  preventing  the  incidents 
that  their  presence  would  give  rise  to.  As  long 
as  he,  through  his  knowledge  of  Moorish  character, 
customs,  anrl  language,  was  able   to  hold  the  com- 


THE     WESTERN  QUESTION.  27 

mandlng  position  he  did  at  the  Shereefian  Court, 
the  Foreign  Office  never  complained.  When  the 
late  Sir  William  Kirby  Green  was  appointed  Minister 
Resident  in  Morocco,  the  sign  of  the  times  could  no 
longer  be  disregarded.  The  last  market  of  the  world 
was  about  to  be  opened  up.  Morocco  was  not  to 
be  allowed  to  remain  any  longer  a  stagnant  morass 
outside  the  pale  of  human  progress  and  advance- 
ment. This  new  policy  Lord  Salisbury  inaugu- 
rated with  a  mission  he  sent  to  the  Shereefian  Court 
in  1887,  which,  owing  to  the  unfortunate  death  of 
Sir  William  Kirby  Green,  while  in  the  city  of 
Morocco,  resulted  in  nothing.  But  this  new  depar- 
ture was  openly  avowed  in  the  speech  which  the 
then  Prime  Minister  made  in  Glasgow,  in  May,  1891. 
Having  at  last,  it  appears,  given  heed  to  the  oft  re- 
peated petitions  and  memorials  of  commercial  bodies 
all  over  Great  Britain,  Lord  Salisbury  left  us  all  under 
the  impression  after  this  speech,  which  at  the  time 
created  great  excitement  among  the  Mediterranean 
powers,  that  England  was  about  to  assume  a  more 
energetic  attitude  in  dealing  with  the  Western  question. 
He  warned  the  rulers  of  Morocco  in  polite  language, 
it  is  true,  but  his  meaning  was  none  the  less  unmistak- 
able, that  their  country  could  not  continue  indefinitely 
to  bid  defiance  to  international  law,  or  place  itself  in 
opposition  to  the  civilized  world.  The  speech  was 
hailed  with  delight  by  the  manufacturers  of  Great 
Britain,  who  have  always  regarded  Morocco  as  a 
suitable  market  for  their  goods.  It  was  all  the  more 
lamentable  after  this  trumpet  blast,  or  speech  that 
sounded  so  very  much  like  one,  that  Sir  Charles  Euan- 


28  MOROCCO  AS   IT  IS. 

Smith's  Mission  to  the  Shereefian  Court  undertaken 
and  executed  in  the  sense  of  the  words  spoken   by 
the   Prime  Minister  in    Glasgow,  should  have  been 
allowed  to  collapse  as  it  did,  and  even  become  ridicu- 
lous, solely  from  the  want  of  support  of  any  kind  from 
the  Foreign  Office.     Of  course,  England's  vital  inter- 
est in  Morocco  is  its  bearing  upon  Gibraltar  and  the 
free  navigation  of  the  straits.     Gibraltar  has   always 
been  considered  the  key  to  the  western  Mediterranean. 
In  this  connection  it  has  been  well  said  by  an  officer 
of  the  English  army  that  Tangier  is  the  key  guard. 
The  question  whether  or  not  Gibraltar,  in  view  of 
the    improvements    in    armament    and    in    cannon 
that  have  taken  place  in   the  last  hundred  years,  is 
still   capable  of  being  defended  and  consequently  a 
place    of    great  strategic  value,  has  been    answered 
in  the  affirmative  by  all   military  experts.     I^ut   the 
same  military  critics  are  always  unanimously  of  the 
opinion  that  Gibraltar  could  not  be  defended  success- 
fully if  Tangier  were  in  possession  of  a  power  hostile 
to  English  interests.     Let  us  suppose  for  a    moment 
that  Spain  occupied  Tangier,  and   that  Her  Catholic 
Majesty  the  Queen    Regent  should  seize  an  oppor- 
tunity when  the  foreign   complications   of   England 
and  the  state  of  Europe  were  such   as   to  admit  of 
a  possibility  i)f  regaining  possession  of  Gibraltar,  an 
event  which  the    inhabitants  of   Andalusia  at    least 
seem  to  have  regarded  as  imminent  every  month  for 
the  past  two  hundred  years.     For  do  not  the  Royal 
decrees  of  Sjiain  still  assert  that  Gibraltar  is   only 
temporarily  in   the   hands  of  the  ICnglish,  and  is  not 
the  Royal  Governor  of  Algeciras  also  Governor  of  the 


Sir  Charles  Euan-Smith,  K.C.B. 
From  a  FhotogyaJ'h  by  Elliott  and  Fry. 


30  MOROCCO  AS   IT  IS. 

Rock  ?  Backed  up,  as  they  then  would  be  by  the 
guns  ofCeuta  and  of  Tangier,  the  fleet  of  Spain  and 
her  aUies,  even  if  less  powerful  than  the  English  fleet, 
would  require  a  great  many  more  English  vessels 
than  England  at  such  a  junction  perhaps  could  afford 
to  spare,  to  secure  the  provisioning  of  the  rock 
garrison,  even  if  it  did  not  prove  impossible  to  raise 
the  siege,  liut  with  Tangier  in  the  hands  of  the  Eng- 
lish, or  unfortified  and  in  the  possession  of  the  indolent 
Moors,  Gibraltar  would  become  once  again  well-nigh 
impregnable,  and  with  Tangier  as  its  base  of  food 
supply  and  Gibraltar  for  munitions  of  war  and  refit- 
ting, a  smaller  English  fleet  could  hold  the  mouth 
of  the  Mediterranean  against  all  comers,  than  under 
the  circumstances  that  I  have  outlined  above  would 
be  necessary  to  convoy  a  cargo  of  grain  under  the 
guns  of  the  mighty  rock  fortress.  If  Tangier  falls 
into  the  hands  of  the  TVench  it  could  not  be  defentlcd, 
and  it  might  as  well  be  returned  to  Spain. 

I  think  if  people  had  it  brought  home  to  them, 
the  abs<>lute  necessity  of  Tangier  to  the  security  of 
Gibr.iltar,  and  consequently  to  the  integrity  of  the 
Empire,  they  would  cease  from  regarding  Morocco  as 
an  out-of-the-way  place,  in  whicii  ICngland  has  no 
right  to  meddle,  and  that  steps  would  be  taken  to 
provide  that  Morocco  the  "  feeder  "  of  Gibraltar  and 
the  Mediterranean  fleet  in  time  of  peace,  be  still  open 
to  the  fleet  as  a  necessary  base  of  supplies  in  time  of 
war.  W'iiat  England  wants  now  in  Morocco  is  to 
obtain  for  her  merchandise  an  open  market  for  her 
ships,  the  unrestricted  navigation  of  the  straits,  and 
from  the  valley  of  the  Scbou,  which  was    the  granary 


THE    WESTERN  QUESTION.  3  I 

of  the  world  in  centuries  past,  corn  for  her  hungry 
milHons,  To  obtain  these  things  England  must  re- 
gain the  supremacy  of  influence  at  the  Shereefian 
Court.  The  Moors  have  fallen  into  the  hands  of 
crafty  advisers  of  late  years,  and  they  have  been  in- 
duced to  believe  that  so  necessary  is  their  friendship 
to  England's  position  at  the  entrance  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean, that  come  what  may  she  is  prepared  to  defend 
their  independence  and  maintain  the  integrity  of  the 
Shereefian  Empire.  The  Sultan  and  his  advisers 
should  be  given  to  understand  in  unambiguous  terms 
what  an  insignificant  pawn  the  power  they  represent 
really  is  in  the  political  game  that  is  being  played  be- 
tween the  Herculean  Pillars.  They  should  be  forced 
to  recall  the  intervention  of  England  after  the  naval 
demonstration  of  the  French  in  1844,  ^"d  the  bom- 
bardment of  Tangier  by  the  Prince  de  Joinville  in 
1844^  and  the  manner  in  which  Sir  John  Hay  saved 
the  integrity  of  their  Empire  in  i860.  They  should 
also  be  given  to  understand  that  when  next  they  are 
in  need  of  a  strong  protector,  a  need  which,  as  is  well 
known,  may  make  itself  felt  any  day,  England  may  be 
found  lukewarm  or  more  inclined  to  exact  a  sub- 
stantial return  for  friendly  offices  than  on  former 
occasions. 

The  position  assumed  by  German  diplomacy  in 
Morocco  is  most  interesting.  Ten  years  ago  I 
believe  the  interests  of  the  great  central  European 
Empire  were  represented  in  Morocco  by  a  simple 
consul.  Two  years  ago  His  Excellency  Count 
Tattenbach  went  on  a  mission  to  Fez,  with  the  largest 
and  most  brilliant  suite  that  has  ever  accompanied  a 


32  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

Christian   envoy  to    the    capital    of  the    Mogrcbbin 
Moslems.     I  believe  his  military  staff  alone  numbered 
twenty-two   officers.     Of  course  this  sudden  growth 
of  German  interest  in  a  country  lying  so  well  outside 
of  its  political  sphere  was  not  purely  academic.     The 
mission  occasioned   much  comment  and  gave  rise  to 
many    conjectures.      The   possibility  of  a    German 
protectorate  over  the  country  has  again  and  again 
been   mentioned,  and   should  not,  in   my  opinion,  be 
sneered  at  as  impossible  or  as  out  of  the  realm  of 
practical  politics  as  has  been  the  case.     The  Colonial- 
Menschen  of  Hamburg  and  Bremen,  who  induced  the 
Empire    to    spend    so    many   millions    of  marks    in 
obtaining  possession  of  the  swamps  about  Bagamoyo, 
mi^ht  succeed  in  inducing  the  German  Government 
to   endeavour   to    gain    control    of  the   most    fertile 
country  in  the  Dark  Continent.     By  subterfuge  and 
all  manner  of  chicanery  the  Moors  during  the  last 
fifty  years  have  succeeded  very  well  in  holding  their 
own,  and  in  keeping  their  Empire  impermeable  to  all 
European   ideas    and    civilizing  influences.       But    if 
driven  to  a  corner  they  are  quite  capable  of  placing 
their    country    under    the    political  tutelage  of  the 
German  lunperor.     They  might  adopt  this  course  in 
the  first   place  merely  to  spite  those  powers  whose 
designs  on  their  country  arc   more    open  and  undis- 
guised, and  in  the  second  place  because  they  may  be 
of  opini'^n  that  Germany  does  not  care  for  any  more 
African  colonics,  and  that  the  relations  thus  entered 
on  would    never   become   those   of  master  and  man. 
That  such    a   course  of  action  is  not  entirely  impro- 
bable is  shown  by  the  fact  that  fifteen  years  ago  the 


THE    WESTERN  QUESTION.  33 

Sultan  of  Morocco  sent  an  embassy  to  the  President 
of  the  United  States,  with  a  request  that  he  should 
take  them  under  his  protection.  This  embassy  was 
stopped  by  the  Minister  of  the  United  States  in 
Morocco  in  Tangier  as  soon  as  they  made  known  to 
him  the  object  of  their  mission.  But  perhaps  after 
all  the  sudden  interest  that  Germany  has  taken  in 
Morocco  is  due  to  commercial  reasons  only.  Cer- 
tainly as  a  result  of  it  the  exports  from  Germany  to 
Morocco  have  increased  five  hundredfold.  German 
goods  are  to  be  met  with  throughout  the  whole 
country,  and  they  are,  in  my  opinion,  displacing 
English  wares  and  manufactures  in  almost  every 
market.  The  gross  value  of  English  imports  is  still 
considerably  superior  to  the  German  ;  but  unless 
English  merchants  bestir  themselves  in  two  or  three 
years  the  balance  of  trade  will  be  in  favour  of  their  new 
commercial  rival.  It  is  thought  by  not  a  few  that 
the  unexpected  activity  of  the  Germans  in  Morocco  is 
due  to  a  desire  to  watch  and  hinder  French  aspirations 
for  empire  in  Northern  Africa,  and  it  has  struck  many 
as  a  plausible  explanation  of  it,  that  after  having 
attained  a  position  of  importance  in  Morocco,  by 
gracefully  yielding  to  the  French  on  the  banks  of  the 
Muluya,  an  improvement  in  the  relations  of  the  two 
powers  might  be  brought  about  on  the  banks  of  the 
Vosges. 

SpaiUj  of  course,  pants  for  the  rich  and  fertile  river 
lands  of  Morocco  as  does  the  hart  for  cooling  brooks. 
I  mean,  of  course,  new  Spain,  the  enthusiastic  and 
sentimental  youth  of  the  universities  and  of  the  great 
cities,  not  the  long-headed  business  men  who  manage 

D 


34  MOROCCO  AS  IT  IS. 

with  difficulty  the  affairs  of  the  nation  that  has  seen 
better  days,  who  find  their  time  fully  occupied  in 
skating  round  the  craters  that  indicate  the  volcanic 
substrata  over  which  the}*  live.  The  conquest  of 
Morocco  by  Spanish  troops  appeals  to  anyone  with 
a  sense  of  poetic  justice.  It  seems  only  right  that 
the  Spaniards  should  lord  it  over  the  Moors  who  for 
so  many  centuries  ruled  Spain.  But  one  requires 
very  little  knowledge  of  the  two  countries  as  they  are 
to-day  to  see  that  this  dream  for  the  present  is  not 
likely  to  be  realized.  This  is  a  practical  age,  and 
poetic  justice  is  not  often  considered  in  practical 
politics.  Spain  will  always  be  against  England  in 
any  dispute  in  which  the  supremacy  or  the  possession 
of  the  western  entrance  to  the  Mediterranean  is 
involved  ;  first,  because  of  Gibraltar,  and  secondly, 
because  it  is  generally  believed  in  Spain,  and  rightly 
believed,  that  it  was  England  who  robbed  her 
of  the  hardly  won  fruits  of  the  Moorish  cam- 
paigns in  1859  and  i860;  but  except  as  an  ally 
of  some  greater  power  I  do  not  believe  that  Spain 
will  play  a  very  prominent  part  in  the  settle- 
ment of  the  Western  question.  In  the  present 
state  of  her  finances  and  of  her  army,  she  has  not 
the  taillc  to  satisfy  aspirations  which  arc  certainly 
quite  natural.  The  policy  of  Italy  is  to  be  found  in 
the  word  "  Anti-Ercnch."  And  the  Consulta  will  go 
to  any  length  rather  than  witness  a  repetition  here  of 
the  Tunisian  Protectorate.  Incidentally  Italy  hopes 
to  play  her  cards  in  Morocco  in  such  a  way  as  to 
enter  upon  the  possession  ol  Tripoli  without  the  firing 
of  a  gun. 


THE    WESTERN  QUESTION.  35 

The    success    of  El    H'mam    and    the  Andjerite 
Highlanders  in  holding  their  own  against  the  very- 
numerous  force  the  Sultan  sent  against  him,  is  but 
another  indication  of  the  general   disintegration  of 
the  Shereefian  Empire.     Instead  of  being  drawn  and 
quartered,   or    shaken    in  the   spiked    Ghelabir,    the 
Andjerite  notables  who  supported  H'mam  have  been 
rewarded,  in   the  prosaic  language  of  a  Fez  corre- 
spondent, with  a  "new  suit  of  clothes   all   around." 
Though  according  to  the  legend  that  ran  through  the 
Andjera  hills  last    winter,    when    the    bold   brigand 
escaped   from    his    prison   in  Fez,   H'mam    bears    a 
charmed  life,  I  am  afraid  a  way  will  soon  be  found  to 
terminate  his  successful  career,  possibly  by  the  tradi- 
tional method  of  arsenical  poisoning.     Still  I  may  be 
in  error.  H'mam  has  to-day  more  powerful  protectors 
than  Sid  Absalom  and  Sidi  Boazza,  in  whose  sanc- 
tuary in  the  beautiful  Sahel  wood  he  has  so  often 
taken  refuge  in  the    days    before    he  had  gathered 
about  him  the  large  following  that  is  his  to-day. 


D  2 


CHAPTER  HI. 

THE   SULTAX    MULAI    HASSAN. 

Absolute  Ruler  of  all  True  Believers — His  personal  appearance 
—  His  fear  of  assassination — "To  dole  unequal  laws  unto  a 
savage  race" — Three  Cabinet  Councils  a  day — How  the 
Empire  is  subdivided  and  governed — The  functions  of 
Bashaws  and  Caids — The  Sultan  at  his  correspondence — 
His  unpopularity  in  Fez — His  fear  of  the  approach  of  tlie 
French  from  the  East — The  Algerian  frontier — The  Sul- 
tan's new  Palace  at  Tafilct — Anecdotes  told  about  the 
Sultan — The  Sultan  at  the  head  of  his  army. 

Tni:  present  dueller  in  the  plcas:int  shade  of  the 
scarlet  umbrella,  the  emblem  of  Shereefian  sove- 
rc'v^niy,  is  Mulai-al-IIassan,  the  fitteenth  or  sixteenth 
monarch  of  the  Fileli  dynasty,  officially  known  as 
the  Emir-al-Muniemin,  or  absoltite  ruler  of  all  true 
believers. 

He  is  better  known,  however,  through  the  length 
and  breadth  of  his  Empire  as  "  Seedna,"  "the  great 
lord."  The  Sultan  is  every  inch  of  him  a  king  and 
a  ruler  of  men.  As  to  his  age  authorities  differ. 
Some  say  he  is  forty,  and  others  say  he  is  sixty.  It 
is  a  question,  however,  in  which  the  Moor  takes  little 
interest,  and  certainly  it  would  never  occur  to  any 
of  the  courtiers  to  ask  of  their  lord  his  age,  nor  is   it 


'-■■•^aK."<^\ 


■.?;.? 


*   '*i?^'' 


".     4 


-^4^4 


I 

I 


V 


-—    O 


^2   .  . 

I/:   (U   b   "^ 

.—   *j  — .in 

rt   p   3   3 


S3 
w5 


> 


o 


a 

ci 
1) 

H 


H 
-3 


38  MOROCCO  AS   IT  IS 

anywhere  set  down.  There  arc  locusts  in  Morocco 
but  no  birthday-books. 

But  Mulai  Hassan  does  not  appear  to  be  more 
than  filty.  He  is  evidently  in  the  enjoyment  of 
vigorous  health  ;  in  fact  the  surgeon  who  accom- 
panied the  British  Mission  to  Fez,  at  the  request  of 
the  Sultan  made  a  careful  medical  examination, 
tapped  him  all  over,  and  pronounced  him  "a  very 
good  life."  Personally  he  is  very  handsome  ;  his 
forehead  is  high,  and  boviht\  not  receding  like  those 
of  so  many  of  the  Moors.  His  expression  is  com- 
manding ;  his  eyes  are  fearless,  and  his  gaze  searching. 
The  brave,  hardy  life  he  led  in  his  youth,  when  there 
seemed  no  probability  of  his  coming  to  the  throne, 
has  left  him  with  a  magnificent  physique  and  an 
iron  constitution  which  have  helped  him  to  bear  up 
under  the  heavy  cares  of  his  office. 

Twenty  years  ago,  Edmond  de  Amicis,  the  Italian 
traveller  and  writer,  described  him  as  a  dcmi-god, 
a  centaur  on  horseback,  on  foot  a  dusky  Apollo  ; 
but,  when  I  saw  him  last  summer,  it  was  quite 
apparent  that  he  had  been  a  demi-god  too  long 
— by  twenty  years.  His  under  lip  protruded,  and 
wore  a  very  sensual  expression,  and  his  eyes 
were  dull,  and  at  times  expressionless.  ICvery 
now  and  then  a  suspicious,  fearful  look  flashes 
across  his  face,  even  though  he  is  engaged  in  perform- 
ing some  public  function,  and  you  see  that  the 
monarch  of  Mauritania  is  subject  to  the  same  fears, 
the  same  ohst'ssioii,  that  torture  the  minds  of  kings 
in  cc>ldcr  climes — he,  too,  lives  in  daily  fear  of 
assassination.     While  his   features  arc  indicative  of 


THE   SULTAN  MULAI  HASSAN.  39 

the  self-indulgence  that  has  characterized  his 
later  life,  it  should  be  said  that  the  Sultan  is 
admittedly  a  stranger  to  many  of  the  unspeak- 
able vices  of  his  court  and  of  his  chief  capital, 
which  is  so  notoriously  vicious,  that  at  least  in 
one  widely-read  Encyclopjedia  the  statement  is 
made  that  Fez  is  the  most  corrupt  and  immoral 
city  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  However,  let 
no  zealous  seeker  after  human  documents  set  out 
with  this  information  for  Fez  to  gather  fin-de-sicde 
details  of  decadent  manners.  The  hated  kaffir  may 
spend  months  and  years  in  the  ^Moorish  capital  with- 
out coming  in  contact  with  the  social  movement, 
and  after  staying  as  long  as  you  like,  on  coming 
away,  you  could  only  say  truthfully  of  your  own 
knowledge  that  the  Fazzi  are  addicted  to  lying  and 
to  prayer,  and  to  passing  their  days  in  industriously 
going  to  mosque,  or  indolently  lolling  in  the  sun. 
On  his  face,  however,  the  Sultan  bears  unmistakable 
marks  of  the  hard  life  he  has  led  these  twenty  years. 
The  following  lines  are  written  in  the  hope  of 
conveying  some  idea  of  his  daily  life,  his  activity  as 
a  soldier  and  as  a  statesman,  in  a  word  to  give  an 
idea  of  what  manner  of  man  the  supreme  Sultan  of 
Morocco  is.  Of  one  thing  there  could  be  no  two 
opinions,  the  Sultan  does  play  his  role  well.  At  the 
head  of  his  motley  army,  in  his  audience  chamber, 
at  the  religious  fetes,  prostrating  himself  before  the 
tomb  of  Mulai  Edriss,  he  is  always  peerless,  always 
Sultan. 

His  dignified  bearing  is  the  same  whether  it  be  to 
a  naked  muleteer,  who  comes  before  him  to  beseech 


40  .}/ORQCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

a  boon,  or  a  haughty  desert  chief,  who  sues  for 
pardon  or  threatens  war  ;  the  mystic,  mummy  figure, 
all  enveloped  in  white,  whose  smile  commands  the 
hoarse,  wild  applause  of  the  multitudes,  who  imposes 
upon  them  silent  awe  and  obsequious  fear  by  a  nod, 
a  wink  or  a  glance,  who  is  always  the  same — the  un- 
disputed master  of  the  situation.  Every  European 
who  has  come  in  contact  with  him  loudly  sings  his 
praises.  The  grace  and  thoughtful  dignity  of  his 
speech,  his  noble  carriage  and  bearing,  are  always 
observed  and  have  never  failed  to  impress. 

His  decrees  are  executed  with  the  bloodthirsty 
cruelty  of  a  monster.  He  lives  in  a  world  that  is  al- 
most incredible  to  us.  Some  indeed  who  have  noticed 
the  antithesis  to  be  found  between  the  Sultan's  grave, 
thoughtful  conversation  and  the  laws  which  he  im- 
poses, and  the  blood-curdling  punishments  for  trivial 
offences  which  he  permits^  have  come  to  the  conclu- 
sion that,  like  many  another  monarch  for  whom 
omnipotence  is  claimed,  he  is  merely  the  creature  of 
circumstances,  or  perhaps  that  after  all  he  knows  best 
how  to  perform  the  destiny  that  is  his — "to  dole 
unequal  laws  unto  a  savage  race." 

liut,  above  everything  else,  the  Sultan  is  a  hard 
worker.  I  hear  the  sarcastic  laughter  that  this  state- 
ment will,  I  am  suie,  n(jt  fail  to  provoke.  It  has 
become  rather  the  fashion  during  the  last  decade  to 
picture  the  monarchs  of  the  earth  as  slaves  to  duty, 
as  burning  the  nn'dnight  oil  far  into  the  night,  and 
jum]»ing  into  the  saddle  for  but  half  an  hour's  recrea- 
tion in  the  morning  long  bcf(Me  the  day  has  dawned 
and  we  work-a-day  people  are  awake,     l^ut,  be  this  as 


THE   SULTAX  MULAI   HASSAN.  4I 

it  may,  the  Sultan  of  INIorocco  is  a  hard  worker  ; 
and,  if  the  reader  were  inclined  to  scepticism  be- 
fore, I  am  sure  it  will  be  dispelled  when  he  hears 
that  the  Sultan  holds  cabinet  meetings  three  times  a 
day.  It  is  absolutely  impossible  to  fairly  state  exactly 
what  the  Sultan  does  do  every  day  ;  his  days  are 
different.  One  day  he  proclaims  a  war  ;  the  next 
day  he  concludes  a  peace.  He  is  judge,  priest, 
soldier,  tax-gatherer,  and  justice  of  the  peace,  and 
yet,  while  performing  all  these  more  or  less  im- 
portant functions,  not  a  mule  can  leave  the  Imperial 
stables  that  are  scattered  all  over  the  Empire  without 
his  written  consent  having  been  obtained  first. 

As  I  say,  in  ordinary  times,  that  is  when  he  is 
residing  in  one  of  his  capitals,  Fez,  Mekinez,  or 
Morocco,  he  holds  three  cabinet  councils  a  day, 
at  which  his  officers  are  bound  to  attend.  Once  or 
twice  a  week,  or  oftener  if  circumstances  demand  it, 
he  convokes  the  grand  council  of  the  Empire,  an 
assembly  of  men  appointed  by  himself  to  functions 
similar  to  those  of  the  German  Wirkliche  Gehei- 
merathe,  which  assembly  is  formed  of  the  notable 
men  in  the  capital  cities,  and  is  convened  when  he 
wishes  to  share  his  responsibilit}-  in  the  deciding  of 
some  important  question,  or  to  place  upon  their 
shoulders  the  responsibilit}-  for  some  course  of  action 
which  he  has  decided  upon  without  consulting  them. 
He  gives  public  audiences  twice  a  week,  and  private 
audiences  daily. 

The  Empire  is  divided  into  three  kingdoms,  Fez, 
Tafilet  and  Morocco,  each  of  which  is  ruled  by  a 
Viceroy  whom  the   Sultan  appoints.     The  outlying 


42  '  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

province  of  the  Suss  is  governed  by  an  Imperial 
Commissioner,  almost  always  a  general.  The  Empire 
is  divided  very  unequally  (in  a  territorial  sense)  into 
departments,  over  which  the  Bashaw  in  times  of 
peace  reigns  supreme.  In  case  of  rebellion,  or  of  war, 
he  is  often  superseded  in  his  functions  by  an  Imperial 
Commissioner  or  political  officer.  These  Bashaws  or 
Governors  are  never  prominent  local  men.  They  are 
always  nominees  of  the  "  gang  "  that  rules  in  court 
circles  for  the  time  being.  The  Bashaw  in  his  turn 
appoints  the  Caids  for  the  districts  into  which  his 
department  is  divided.  These  Caids  are  always  local 
men,  popular  or  powerful  in  the  neighbourhood,  and 
arc  never  ihc  creatures  of  the  court.  When  a  Caid 
dies,  or  is  removed  for  a  cause,  the  Bashaw  calls 
upon  the  head  man  of  the  district  to  .send  him  in 
names  from  which  to  select  a  new  Caid.  This  office 
has  many  patriarchal  functions  ;  the  chief  duty,  how- 
ever, is  to  arrange  with  the  imperial  tax-gatherers  how 
much  taxes  are  expected  from  the  community  by  the 
Treasury,  and  how  little  the  tax-gatherer  will  let 
them  off  with. 

As  was  the  case  with  I  I'mani  in  the  Anghcra  High- 
lands, the  liashaw  is  often  conipelletl  to  appoint  a  suc- 
cessful brigand  to  the  post.  When  the  Sultan  finds  he 
can  make  no  headway  against  the  local  opposition, 
he  very  often  appoints  the  heatl  of  the  rebellion 
as  his  Caid,  a  policy  on  a  par  with  that  of  I  knry  II., 
who,  if  I  remember  rightly,  when  he  could  not  rule 
Ireland  without  Richard  .Strongbow,  determined  to 
rule  it  with  his  aid.  Kvery  official  document  issued 
by  the  Viziers  passes  through  the  .Sultan's  own  liands, 


THE   SULTAN   MULAI  HASSAN. 


43 


and  is  not  issued  until  approved  by  him,  even,  as  I 
say,  documents  relating  to  the  hire  of  mules.  The 
Sultan  never  writes  himself,  for  the  same  reason,  I 
believe,  as  that  told  me  by  Professor  Vambery  as 
the  reason  why  the  Sultan  of  Turkey  does  not 
speak  French,  that  is,  he  might  make  a  mistake, 
which  would  never  do.     But  for  several  hours  every 


Sid  Gharnet,  Grand  Vizier. 


morning  the  Sultan  sits  cross-legged  on  his  divan, 
and  with  a  pencil  ticks  off  the  documents  that  come 
up  from  his  Ministers  to  him  for  his  approval.  I 
received  a  letter  from  Sid  Gharnet  that  had  passed 
through  the  Sultan's  hands,  and  at  the  end  of  the 
letter,  in  the  right  hand  corner,  was  a  sharp,  nervous 
dash  of  the  lead.     Sid  Gharnet  told  me  that  it  was 


44  MOROCCO   .AS   IT   IS. 

the  Sultan's  si>n  manual  for  private  correspondence, 
and  that  it  showed  that  he  had  read  and  approved  the 
contents.  Of  course,  however,  official  documents  bear 
the  Shercefian  seal. 

His  every  act,  even  the  most  insignificant,  is 
jealously  watched  by  a  suspicious  people.  There  is 
no  newspaper  press  in  Morocco  to  cavil  and  take 
exception,  but  there  are  cafes,  and  with  that  all  is 
said.  The  particular  shortcoming  which  is  charged 
against  the  present  Sultan  by  the  inhabitants  of  the 
capitals,  who  should  know  better,  as  well  as  by  the 
wild  horsemen  of  the  desert,  who  naturally  enough 
are  not  very  well  informed,  must  be  exasperating 
reading  for  the  diplomats  who  have  come  in  contact 
with  the  Caliph  of  the  Lord.  The  fanatical  populace 
of  Fez  charge  their  Sultan,  Mulai  Hassan,  with  having 
entirely  too  much  commerce,  that  is,  of  a  diplomatic 
rharactcr,  with  the  Christians.  They  accuse  him  of 
having  I'clped  to  breach  the  wall  of  fanaticism  and 
isolation  which  the  MoDrs  of  Morocco  for  300  years 
have  l)cen  erecting  around  the  ICmpirc,  and  the 
emissaries  of  the  Senussi  Mahdi,  for  reasons  that  it  is 
here  unnecessary  to  enter  into,  whisper  at  the  street 
corners  that  the  Sultan  is  an  unworthy  Calij^h,  that 
his  heart  has  wandered  from  the  faith  of  his  fathers, 
and  that  in  secret  he  too  is  a  Kaffir  (Christian). 
These  murmurcrs  should  listen  to  the  complaints  of 
the  Christian  diplomats  in  Tangier,  who,  though  they 
disagree  with  each  other  on  every  other  subject  under 
the  sun,  do  agree  in  admitting  that  the  Sultan  has  kept 
the  heritage  that  came  to  him  from  hisfather  intact,and 
that  no  favour  or  even  show  of  justice  has  been  granted 


THE   SULTAN  MULAI  HASSAN.  45 

a  Christian  except  under  the  strongest  compulsion  ; 
that,  throughout  the  score  of  years  he  has  reigned, 
only  very  few  and  very  insignificant  claims  have  been 
paid  for  injuries  done  to  Christians  and  Christian 
powers,  and  of  the  English  claims  at  least  it  can  be 
said  that  a  very  great  number  of  them  that  are  just 
and  legitimate  he  has  even  refused  to  consider. 

His  present  tantalizing  policy  of  hesitation  and 
irresolution  which  characterizes  everything  he  under- 
takes (and  also  what  he  leaves  undone),  is  inspired  by 
his  ever-increasing  fear  of  the  French,  whose  position 
and  attitude  on  his  eastern  frontier  he  considers 
menacing. 

In  this  connection  I  should  say  that  he  has  perhaps 
better  means  of  knowing  les  an  dcssoiis  of  the  Touat 
question  than,  perhaps,  anyone  else,  not  excepting  the 
wise  ones  of  the  English  and  Continental  Foreign 
Offices.  French  diplomacy  for  the  last  five  years  in 
Morocco  at  least  has  assumed  a  distinctly  positive 
tone,  and  the  profuse  pretensions  that  are  made  at 
the  Ouai  d'Orsai  that  their  active  diplomacy  in 
Morocco  has  solely  for  its  object  the  delimitation  of 
the  more  scientific  frontier  between  Algeria  and 
Morocco,  is  not  believed  by  the  Sultan,  nor  has  it 
struck  me  as  very  plausible. 

Every  evening  as  he  wanders  beneath  the  mandra- 
gora  and  pomegranate  trees  of  his  magnificent  garden 
in  Fez  the  Sultan  finds  no  rest  or  peace  from  think- 
ing of  the  "  red-trousered  Roumi,"  only  200  miles 
away,  at  El  Goleah  and  Insufra.  This  feeling  of 
dread  anticipation,  strengthened  by  the  conscious- 
ness which  he  has  that  the  reins  of  power  are  slipping 


46  MOROCCO  AS   IT  IS. 

from  his  grasp,  has  found  more  substantial  expres- 
sion than  in  anxious  and  querulous  inquiries  of  the 
British  Minister.  Since  last  year  the  Sultan  has 
been  building  a  magnificent  palace  in  Tafilet,  a 
southern  inland  city,  famous  for  its  dates.  There, 
where  the  Atlas  slopes  begin  to  rise,  far  from  the 
seas  which  the  Christians  now  command,  he  is  pre- 
paring a  suitable  residence  and  a  home  for  the  day 
when  Northern  Morocco  will  no  longer  be  his,  when 
the  palaces  of  Fez  and  Mekinez  will  be  closed  to 
him.  To  Tafilet,  too,  all  the  treasures  of  the  Empire 
have  been  removed. 

The  Sultan  possesses  palaces  also  in  Mekinez, 
Fez,  and  in  the  cit\'  of  Morocco,  also,  I  believe,  in 
Rabbat,  while  the  palaces  of  the  Bashaws  in  the 
various  Governments  in  his  Empire  arc  nominally 
his  property.  They  are  not  very  interesting  edifices, 
though  the  Fez  palace  is  certainly  large.  The  palace 
and  its  courtyards  cover  certainly  forty  acres  of 
ground,  but  the  Sultan's  installation  is  surprisingly 
poor  and  fault}-.  Mis  apartments  are  scantily  fur- 
nished, if  furnished  at  all  ;  a  low  cushion  on  the 
floor,  a  tattered  haytie  on  the  wall,  and  the  end  of 
Imperial  adornment,  as  understood  in  Morocco,  has 
been  reached.  The  gardens  of  the  Sultan  in  Fez,  so 
far  as  the  bird's-eye  views  I  was  able  to  obtain 
justify  me  in  forming  an  opinion,  are  very  beautiful 
indeed.  Sid  Abdurrahman,  the  father  of  the  present 
ruler,  was  a  great  lover  of  plants,  and  to  him,  per- 
liaps,  the  beauty  of  the  gardens  is  due.  They  have 
run  very  much  to  seed  now,  but  the  (lowers  and  the 
trees  arc  magnificent.     In    the  garden   at    Fez    are 


THE   SULTAN  MULAI  HASSAX.  47 

kept  falcons,  with  which,  in  his  younger  days,  the 
Sultan  hunted  the  gazelles.  He  was  a  passionate 
sportsman,  and  still  occasionally  takes  the  field  after 
the  Abou  Snau  (the  father  of  tusks),  i.e.  boar.  The 
Sultan  hunts  the  boar  with  slogies,  a  hybrid  Turkish 
greyhound,  and  several  years  ago,  when  he  visited 
the  Beni-M'Ghil,  he  killed  several  lions.  As  the 
years  go  by  he  remains  more  and  more  shut  up  in 
his  harem,  and  marches  less  than  formerly  at  the 
head  of  his  troops.  He  is  popular  with  the  soldiers, 
and  reputed  to  be  a  hardy  and  intrepid  soldier.  He 
carries  wounds  received  in  close  combat  with  the 
arch  enemies  of  the  Shereefian  regime,  the  Zair  and 
the  Zimoor  nomads.  As  he  is  always  on  the  march, 
the  camp  is  his  true  capital,  and  his  army  his  true 
court.  Though  he  has  learnt  to  love  his  ease,  and 
fear  the  hazard  of  battle,  he  still  spends  six  months 
of  the  year  under  canvas,  either  on  the  war-path  or 
merely  journeying  from  one  of  his  capitals  to  the 
other.  Sidi  Mahommed  proudly  said,  "  The  throne 
of  the  Emperor  of  Morocco  is  his  horse,  and  his 
canopy  the  sky."  We  will  have  a  look  at  the  Sultan 
on  his  throne  then,  surrounded  by  his  court.  The 
camp  is  roused  generally  at  four  o'clock  in  the 
morning.  The  tents  are  sent  ahead  to  be  ready  for 
their  tenants  on  their  arrival  at  the  next  encamp- 
ment. Then  the  troops  spread  out  over  the  country, 
forming  an  immense  straggling  line,  in  the  centre  of 
which  is  the  Sultan,  followed  by  a  picked  body  of 
the  elite  of  his  soldiers,  and  by  a  few  of  the  women 
of  his  harem  on  mule-back  and  carefully  veiled.  At 
a  little  distance  in  front  of  the  Sultan  rides  the  Kaid- 


48  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

el-Meshwar,  or  Grand  Master  of  the  Ceremonies, 
followed  by  a  group  of  favoured  attendants,  each  of 
whom  carries  some  object  necessary  for  the  Sultan's 
progress,  or  likely  to  add  to  his  comfort.  Thus 
there  is  the  Mul-el-Fas,  or  Master  of  the  Hatchet, 
whose  dut\-  it  is  to  clear  away  brushwood  that  might 
inconvenience  the  Sultan  ;  the  Mul  Mahamaz,  or 
Master  of  the  Spurs,  who  carries  the  Sultan's  spurs, 
which  his  Majesty  only  requires  when  he  performs 
feats  of  horsemanship  ;  the  Mul  Zarbia,  or  Master  of 
the  Carpet,  which  is  spread  on  the  ground  when  the 
Sultan  desires  to  sit  down  ;  the  Mul  Strombia,  or 
Master  of  the  Cushions,  on  which  the  Sultan  re- 
clines ;  the  Mul  Bclghah,  or  INIastcr  of  the  Slippers, 
ready  to  provide  the  Sultan  with  a  fresh  pair  if  he 
desires  a  change  from  those  he  has  on  ;  the  Mul-el- 
Ma,  who  gives  the  Sultan  water  from  a  gazelle-skin 
when  he  is  thirsty  ;  the  Mul  AtaT,  who  prepares  tea 
for  his  use;  and  then,  after  an  interval,  come  two 
mounted  spearmen,  behind  whom,  at  a  little  distance, 
rides  the  Sultan,  having  on  either  side  a  Mul  Zif,  or 
fly-flicker,  and  behind  his  right  stinuji  the  Mul 
M'dul,  bearer  of  the  Shereefian  umbrella. 

The  camp  is  pitched  again  at  eight  o'clock,  and  for 
the  day,  the  Sultan  never  marching  more  than  four 
hours  daily,  except  when  in  retreat  before  a  pursuing 
enemy.  ICverything  is  ready  on  the  Sultan's  arrival 
at  the  halting  place.  His  lent  is  a  vast  structure 
placed  in  the  middle  of  the  cami),  separated  by  a 
very  large  open  space  from  every  other  tent.  It  is 
surrounded  by  a  sort  of  spiral  wall  of  canvas,  which 
buunds  a  circular  path   leading  to  the  principal  en- 


cj 

a 

<u 

a 
o 
a. 

(A 


o 
U 


3 
O 


a 
'o 

c 


rt      - 


s. 


50  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

trance.  Without  this  wall  is  a  smaller  tent,  which 
the  Sultan  uses  as  a  mosque,  and  a  pavilion,  with 
one  side  open  to  the  sky,  where  his  Majesty  gives 
audience  each  morning.  A  quaint  sight  truly  is  a 
INIoorish  encampment — full  of  strange  contrasts  and 
extravagant  discords.  The  sedate  and  dignified 
calm  and  splendour  of  the  tents  of  the  great  men  is 
thrown  into  high  relief  by  the  hideous  squalor  of 
hordes  of  ragged  soldiers,  armed  with  impossible 
weapons.  It  is  a  camp  where  tethered  horses  and 
mules,  cannons,  baggage,  loot,  gunpowder,  ammuni- 
tion, clothing,  provisions,  are  all  to  be  seen  scattered 
pcle-vielc  in  utter  disorder  and  confusion.  A  cannon 
lies  on  a  heap  of  manure,  a  bale  of  clothing  in  the 
dust,  cook-pots  and  cartridges,  guns  of  antique  form, 
strange  musical  instruments  are  piled  in  indiscrimi- 
nate mounds.  There  are  a  certain  number  of  tents 
for  the  whole  army,  not  a  certain  number  of  men  to 
each  tent.  And  the  numerous  prisoners  have  no 
tents  at  all,  and  little  or  no  food.  They  march, 
sleep,  live,  die,  strung  together,  thirty  or  forty  in  a 
gang.  In  the  midst  of  the  tents  of  the  soldiers  are 
others — multiform — made  of  rags  or  shreds  of  cloth- 
ing, of  branches,  of  bundles  of  fern  and  brushwood. 
Ill  these  dwell  the  camp  followers,  among  them 
thousands  of  wild  women,  bedecked  with  extravagant 
ornaments,  daubed  with  paint,  tattooed  in  fantastic 
designs  on  face  and  limbs  and  breast,  clothed  in 
extraordinary  garments  made  from  rags  of  strange 
materials,  once  rich  and  brightly  coloured.  These 
wretched  women  fullow  the  ami)-  }-car  after  year, 
sharing  its  fortunes  and  repulses — loathsome  even  in 


THE   SULTAN  MULAI  HASSAN.  5  I 

youth,  faded,  stricken  with  disease,  without  tribe  or 
family  or  home,  or  even  possessions  beyond  their 
ragged  finery  and  barbaric  jewellery^  a  khol-pot,  a 
cook-pot,  a  cloak  maybe,  and  a  guitar. 

The  Sultan  pays  his  viziers  sixpence  a  day,  but 
they  pay  themselves  very  liberally  out  of  the  Imperial 
treasury.  I  have  it  on  very  good  authority  that  the 
frescoes  of  the  audience  chamber  in  the  house  of  Sid 
Mouktar,  the  late  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  cost 
4000/.  They  were  painted  in  Tetuan  (where  the 
arts  are  still  cultivated)  and  brought  on  muleback  to 
the  capital. 

The  traveller  who  keeps  his  ear  open  comes  away 
from  Morocco  with  a  large  number  of  very  amusing 
anecdotes  about  the  Sultan  and  his  manner  of  life. 
I  was  not  an  exception  to  the  rule.  However,  I  have 
taken  the  precaution  to  read  hastily  most  of  the 
books  that  have  been  written  on  Morocco  during  the 
past  fifty  years,  and  I  regret  to  find  that  all  my  anec- 
dotes have  already  received  the  honours  of  print. 
The  anecdotes,  I  should  say,  in  Morocco  attain  a 
green  old  age.  I  was  related  at  least  one  story  as 
having  occurred  during  the  reign  of  the  present  Sultan, 
which  I  find  was  printed  in  London  in  the  year 
1792. 

In  1884  the  Sultan  was  very  seriously  ill  and  did 
not  appear  before  the  people  for  a  period  of  two 
months.  There  was  great  excitement  in  the  bazaars 
and  through  the  country,  and  European  statesmen, 
if  they  were  observant,  had  the  opportunity  of  judging 
what  will  take  place  when,  in  the  course  of  nature  or 
by  one  of  those  accidents  which  occur  so   frequently 

E  2 


52  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

at  the  Shcrecficin  Court,  the  Sultan  passes  away. 
Spain  certainly  made  extensive  preparations  for  an 
invasion  of  Northern  Morocco,  and  the  garrisons  at 
Ceuta  and  Melilla  were  more  than  doubled,  and  pre- 
tenders to  the  throne  made  their  appearance  in  almost 
every  province  of  the  country.  Finally,  however,  the 
Sultan  was  once  again  seen  in  the  mosques  and  the 
political  ferment  quieted  down. 

The  Sultan,  perhaps,  is  the  only  sovereign  who  has 
shown  no  interest  in  the  Chicago  Exhibition.  I 
regret  to  say,  in  fact,  that  he  has  shown  a  great 
dislike  to  it.  My  friend.  Captain  Cobb,  United 
States  consular  agent  at  Casablanca,  who  is  a  great 
favourite  at  court,  wrote  to  the  Sultan  some  months 
ago,  asking  him  to  have  Morocco  represented  officially 
at  the  great  fair  of  nations  on  the  shores  of  Lake 
Michigan.  The  Sultan,  however,  returned  the  letter, 
saying  that  though  he  very  much  regretted  to  hurt 
the  feelings  of  his  valued  friend,  the  American  con- 
sular agent  at  Casablanca,  but  really  the  subject  that 
he  broached  was  one  too  unpleasant  for  him  to  even 
enter  upon.  The  unpleasantness,  I  believe,  lies  in 
the  fact  that  the  Moorish  pavilion  at  the  Paris  Expo- 
sition in  1889  showed  a  deficit  of  some  25,000/.,  which 
the  Calii)h  of  the  Prophet  had  to  make  good  out  of 
his  privy  purse. 

That  the  Sultan  has  his  mental  limitations  is  shown 
by  the  following  story,  that  I  have  on  excellent 
authority.  When  fjrced  by  some  unusually  persis- 
tent ICuropcan  minister  to  pay  a  claim,  the  Sultan 
fmally  gives  an  order  on  one  of  the  custom-houses  on 
the  sea-coast.     He  can  never  understand  that  this  is 


THE   SULTAN  MULAI  HASSAN.  53 

the  same  thing  as  paying  a  claim  in  cash,  as  the 
minister  always  gets  his  money  out  of  the  custom- 
house. He  laughs  gaily  at  the  joy  of  the  minister  at 
having  succeeded,  and  says  to  his  Oolemas  and 
viziers  :  "  I  am  paying  the  Christians  with  their  own 
money ; "  referring  to  the  fact  that  an  import  duty 
often  per  cent,  is  charged  by  the  collector  of  the 
ports  on  all  European  merchandise,  an  impost  which 
the  Moor  certainly  never  pays.     He  smuggles. 

That  the  Sultan  is  not  without  a  certain  streak  of 
what  we  call  in  the  States  "low  cunning"  is  shown 
by  the  following  anecdote.  A  European  officer  in 
his  service  for  many  years  was  very  anxious  to  have 
the  pay  of  his  brother,  who  was  also  an  officer  in  the 
Shereefian  army,  raised  ;  and  one  day,  when  he  was 
fortunate  enough  to  find  the  great  Seedna  in  a  jovial 
mood,  he  spoke  to  him  about  it.  "  A  hundred  dollars 
a  month  is  not  nearly  enough  pay  for  so  talented  an 
officer,  so  experienced  a  strategist,  as  my  brother," 
he  said  to  the  Sultan  reproachfully.  The  Sultan 
smiled  approval. 

"  I  am  very  glad  to  hear  you  say  that.  It  has  been 
my  constant  thought  now  for  three  years  that  your 
brother's  pay  was  insufficient.  On  three  separate 
occasions  I  have  endeavoured  to  augment  it,  but  have 
always  been  prevented.  I  have  now  been  forced  to 
the  conclusion  that  '  it  is  written  '  that  your  brother 
should  only  have  a  hundred  dollars  a  month.  Deep 
and  inscrutable  are  the  decrees  of  the  Proi^het,  and 
we  must  submit  to  them." 

That  the  Sultan  is  not  very  enlightened  and  modern 
would  appear  from  the  following  story.     An  English 


54  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

steamship  company  has  been  for  some  years  ver}- 
anxious  to  remove  a  dangerous  reef  of  some  protrud- 
ing rocks  in  the  harbour  of  Rabat.  On  several  occa- 
sions their  vessels  have  touched  on  these  dangerous 
obstacles  to  commerce,  and  only  been  floated  at  con- 
siderable cost.  So  a  special  envoy  was  sent  to  Fez 
by  the  management  of  the  company  to  request  of  the 
Sultan  that  they  might  be  allowed  to  remove  the  rocks 
at  their  own  expense.  This  the  Sultan  positively 
refused  to  consent  to.  "  The  rocks  were  put  there  by 
God,"  he  said,  "  for  some  good  purpose.  Let  no  man 
remove  them." 


CHAPTER    IV. 

THE   SHEREEFIAN    COURT. 

The  wane  of  the  Sultan's  power — V^iziers  who  were  spies  of 
Foreign  Powers — Sid  Gharnet  the  Sultan's  playfellow — 
The  beautiful  Ayesha — Harem  gossip — How  the  Sultan 
raises  money — The  disaffection  of  the  Fazzi  — Reward  of 
Caid  Mennoo — Senussi  emissaries — Abdul  Aziz,  son  of  the 
Georgian  woman,  appointed  Viceroy — Sultan  retreats  into 
Rabat — The  Imperial  herald — The  heads  of  the  van- 
quished— The  elephant  presented  by  the  Queen — Trick  of 
the  Zimmoor — How  "  Stoke  "  lost  his  howdah — The 
coming  of  the  Franks — The  Roumi  General  at  the  Tomb 
of  Mulai  Edriss — How  all  Christians  are  to  be  con- 
verted. 

The  ill-success  of  the  Imperial  forces  in  suppressing 
the  annual  rebellions  in  his  Empire,  which,  this  year, 
1892,  numbered  five,  though  it  is  only  of  the  Andjera 
rebellion  that  we  hear  in  Europe,  has  undoubtedly 
filled  the  mind  of  the  Sultan  with  gloomy  fore- 
bodings. 

The  rebellions  are  symptomatic  of  the  disintegra- 
tion of  the  Empire,  and  especially  galling  to  a 
Sultan  who  attained  the  throne  by  military  prowess, 
and  who  has  only  succeeded  in  holding  it  for  the 
twenty  turbulent  years  of  his  reign  by  that  force  of 
arms  which  would  now  seem  to  be  on  the  wane. 


56  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

After  twenty  years  of  fighting,  however,  the  Sultan 
finds  himself  confronted  with  five  flourishing  rebellions 
without  his  capitals,  and  by  treason  even  within  his 
divan,  or  cabinet,  and,  for  reasons  for  which  he  is 
not  entirely  responsible,  all  the  religious  notables 
of  the  Empire  arrayed  against  him.  Five  years  ago 
an  instance  occurred  which  must  have  caused  his 
saintly  Majesty  a  very  bad  quarter  of  an  hour  indeed, 
and  given  him  an  insight  into  the  trustworthiness 
of  those  whom  he  had  honoured  with  the  largest 
degree  of  confidence. 

For  several  years  no  tribute  money  had  reached 
him  from  some  of  the  most  loyal  of  his  tribes  that 
live  on  the  slopes  of  the  southern  Atlas  range.  Time 
and  again  he  sent  his  tax-gatherers,  and  the  reply 
always  was  that  they  had  paid  the  taxes.  Finally, 
several  of  the  Caids  came  to  Fez,  convinced  the 
Sultan  that  the  taxes  had  been  paid,  and  proved  that 
they  had  been  delivered  to  certain  of  his  viziers, 
whom  I  will  not  name  here. 

The  Sultan  was  naturally  very  angr}-  at  this  mal- 
feasance, and  called  the  viziers  to  him  for  an  expla- 
nation. They  were  forced  to  admit  that  the  taxes 
had  been  received,  and  that  they  had  neglected  to 
report  the  matter  to  the  Government. 

The  Sultan  dismissed  them  from  their  offices,  and 
was  on  the  point  of  confiscating  all  their  property  in 
payment  of  the  moneys  they  had  scjuandered,  when 
one  of  the  viziers  showed  protection  papers  from  the 
I'ortuguesc  Government,  and  the  other  from  the 
•Spanish  Government.  So  the  Sultan  found  himself 
powerless  even  to  punish  members  of  his  own  cabinet, 


< 


o 

-a 


v:    5 


tt. 


5-S  MOROCCO   AS   /T  IS. 

who  thus  stood  revealed  as  the  citizens  of  foreign 
powers,  and  who,  of  course,  in  return  for  this  pro- 
tection, undoubtedly  were  the  agents  and  spies  of 
these  Governments. 

The  whole  cabinet  was  immediately  dismissed,  and 
Sid  Gharnet,  by  far  the  most  influential  and  powerful 
personage  at  the  Shereefian  Court,  was  called  upon 
to  form  a  new  Government.  Wiser  than  his  col- 
leagues, Sid  Gharnet  places  his  trust  not  in  the  power 
of  foreign  princes,  but  in  tlic  brown  c)cs  and  shapely 
limbs  of  a  beautiful  woman  whom  years  ago  he  suc- 
ceeded in  installing  as  favourite  in  the  Imperial 
harem. 

Sid  Gharnet  was  the  Sultan's  plajfcllow ;  they 
went  to  school  and  grew  up  together.  The  relations 
between  them  were  very  much  the  same  as  those 
that  existed  between  the  Emperor  of  Austria  and 
Count  Taafe,  the  Prime  Minister  of  the  dual  Empire. 
They  were  school  friends,  and  lived  together  like 
brothers. 

The  Sultan,  a  younger  son  of  the  late  J^mperor,  in 
his  early  days  was  not  expected  to  ascend  the  throne, 
as  was  the  case  with  the  Emperor  of  Austria,  Erancis 
Joseph,  and  at  times  he  was  exceedingly  hard  up. 
Sid  Gharnet,  his  playfellow,  was  commissioned  to  sell 
the  produce  and  other  presents  that  the  loyal  country 
people  sent  to  the  young  prince,  and  I  have  seen 
many  Moors  wlio  remember  and  (U-lighl  to  narrate 
how,  five  and  twenty  years  ago,  the  present  Trimc 
Minister  sold  eggs  in  the  market-place  for  his  account 
and  f(»r  that  of  the  indigent  prince  who  is  now  a  Calii)h 
and   all-powerful   .Sultan.     When   Mulai   Hassan  as- 


THR   SHEREEFIAN   COURT.  59 

cended  the  throne  he  made  his  faithful  boyhood 
friend  a  vizier,  or  privy  councillor,  and  he  gave  him 
the  position  under  the  Grand  Vizier,  Sid  Mouktar. 
Since  1876,  when  Sid  Mouktar  was  paralyzed,  Sid 
Gharnet  has  been  the  Grand  Vizier,  though, 
I  believe,  he  will  not  assume  the  title  until 
the  death  of  his  predecessor,  who  now  is  in  his 
dotage. 

Some  sixteen  years  ago,  so  runs  the  story,  Sid 
Gharnet,  on  his  return  from  a  pilgrimage  to  Mecca, 
stopped  a  few  days  in  Constantinople,  and  was  well 
received  by  the  Sultan,  although  the  Governments  of 
Stamboul  and  Fez  have  not  very  close  and  intimate 
relations.  On  his  departure  from  Stamboul  the 
Sultan  presented  him  with,  or  he  purchased,  as  a 
souvenij'  de  voyage^  for  here  the  narrators  vary,  a 
beautiful  Georgian  slave,  in  whose  company  the 
pious  pilgrim  journeyed  westward  to  Al-Moghreb- 
al-Aska,  the  land  of  the  setting  sun.  Beautiful  as 
are  the  women  of  Fez,  the  arrival  of  the  fair  stranger 
was  not  unnoticed  in  the  city  where  all  are  fair. 
The  rumour  of  her  beauty,  the  unfathomable  depth  of 
her  eyes,  and  the  symmetrical  contour  of  her  limbs, 
soon  reached  the  Sultan's  ears,  and  Sid  Gharnet  very 
cleverly  made  a  present  to  his  master  of  the  terrestrial 
houri,  rather  than  run  the  risk  of  being  despatched  to 
join  the  company  of  colder  celestial  houris — a  danger 
to  which  he  would  have  undoubtedly  been  exposed 
had  he  clung  to  his  prize. 

The  new  favourite  was  christened  Aycsha,  and 
from  that  day  to  this  she  has  succeeded  in  "  queen- 
ing" it  over  the  harem,  and  indeed,  to  a  great  extent, 


6o  MOROCCO  AS   IT  IS. 

over  the  Empire.  She  is  admitted  on  all  sides  to 
be  exceedingly  attractive,  and  a  woman  of  great 
intelligence,  and  this  1  can  readily  believe  of  a 
woman  who  for  sixteen  years  has  reigned  supreme 
in  the  at  once  fiery  and  lethargic  heart  of  the  African 
Sultan,  and  who  has  held  her  position  despite  the 
conspiracies  of  the  four  legitimate  Sherecfas,  or  legal 
wives  of  the  Sultan,  and  notwithstanding  the  sixteen 
hundred  inauvaiscs  longucs  of  her  less  fortunate  sisters 
in  concubinage.  Not  seldom  the  most  influential  and 
powerful  men  in  the  Empire  have  conspired  to  replace 
her  with  their  daughters,  their  sisters,  and  even  their 
wives,  but,  as  I  have  said,  with  only  very  temporary 
success.  I  shall  avail  myself  of  this  mention  of  the 
harem  to  speak  on  the  subject  of  eunuchs.  Very 
vivid  details  of  him  fill  so  many  chapters  of  so  many 
books  on  Morocco.  There  is  not  a  single  eunuch 
employed  to  guard  the  Imperial  harem,  nor  are  these 
gentry  more  common  in  Morocco  than  in  any  other 
country,  and  the  often  published  statement  that  there 
exist  regular  establishments  for  the  emasculation  of 
slaves,  at  Messfouec,  is  undoubtedly  false. 

After  twenty  jears  of  uninterrupted  fighting  the 
Sultan  finds  that  iiis  authority  is  disobeyed  and 
denied  by  at  least  two-thirds  of  the  dwellers  in  the 
i'.mpirc  over  which  he  pretends  to  rule  supreme  ; 
tiiat  the  Berbers,  the  Zimoors,  the  Zair,  and  the 
Bcni-Hassan,  and  scores  of  other  nomadic  tribes  kill 
his  tax-gatherers  and  rob  his  caravans.  The  situa- 
tion has  gone  on  from  bad  to  woisr,  until  now  the 
Sultan  finds  that  only  the  inhabitants  of  the  most 
exposed  vallc}'s  whose  homes  are  most  accessible  to 


THE    SHEREEFIAN   COURT.  6 1 

his  army  ever  think  of  paying  taxes.  The  result 
has  been  that  the  revenues  decrease  yearly,  and 
the  Sultan  often  finds  himself  without  the  money 
absolutely  necessary  to  carry  on  the  government 
and  to  pay  his  soldiers  the  very  small  amounts  they 
need  to  keep  body  and  soul  together.  It  is  perhaps 
this  drying  up  of  his  resources  that  forced  the  Sultan 
to  be  very  firm  in  his  refusal  to  grant  exequaturs  to 
the  Vice-Consuls  of  foreign  countries  that  have  been 
appointed  to  Fez  and  to  the  city  of  Morocco,  In 
opposing  this  paragraph  of  the  treaty  that  Sir  Charles 
Euan-Smith  presented  to  him,  Sid  Gharnet  stated 
some  very  unpalatable  truths  for  Europeans  to  listen 
to ;  but  at  the  same  time,  I  think  it  only  right  that 
they  should  be  repeated  here,  as  they  indicate  better 
than  volumes  the  precarious  conditions  of  the  Imperial 
authority  in  Morocco. 

Sid  Gharnet  stated  that  if  a  British  Vice-Consul 
were  appointed  in  Fez  within  a  year  there  would  be 
some  twenty  other  Vice-Consuls  in  the  holy  city  ; 
that  such  being  the  case,  the  Sultan  would  find  his 
revenue,  which  even  at  the  present  time  is  not  more 
than  equal  to  the  demands  made  upon  it,  very  much 
diminished.  With  much  frankness  Sid  Gharnet 
explained  how  this  diminution  of  revenue  would  be 
brought  about.  He  stated  that,  owing  to  the  un- 
settled position  of  a  great  portion  of  the  country  for 
the  last  two  or  three  years,  the  revenue  from  the 
country  kaids  and  governors  of  far-off  provinces  had 
grown  steadily  less,  and  that  the  Sultan  was  often 
compelled  to  make  a  list  of  the  rich  and  wealthy 
men  of  Fez  and  Morocco,  and  have  them  assessed  in 


62  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

proportion    to    their   fortune    to    suppl\-    the    money 
urgently  needed  by  the  Imperial  purse. 

"  Now,  as  you  know,"  said  the  Grand  Vizier,  "  there 
are  Consuls  and  Vice-Consuls  on  the  coast  who  are 
willing,  and  who  every  day  sell    the    protection  of 
their  country  to  Moors  and  Jews  for  a  thousand  dollars 
and  for  less.     While  we  are  quite  certain  that    the 
nominees  of  the  English  Foreign  Office  for  these  posts 
would  be  as  incorruptible  as  their  colleagues  on  the 
coast,  we  have  just  the  same  reason  for  knowing  that 
the  Vice-Consuls  of  other  powers  would  be  as  venal 
as  their  representatives  on  the  coast  arc  now  known 
to    be.      Suppose,   then,    that    these    twenty   Vice- 
Consuls  had  gathered  in  Fez,  and  the  Sultan  should 
need   half  a  million  dollars,  as  he  very  often   does 
need  it,  and  should  adopt  the  method  of  taxation  which 
I  have  already  outlined,  he  would  send  out  an  agent 
of  the   Treasury   and    say   to  one    man,    '  Of  your 
riches  the  Sultan  desires  ten  thousand  dollars,'  and 
to  another,  'Of  your  fortune  the  Sultan  desires  eight 
thousand    dollars,'    and    to    another,    '  From     your 
means  his  Imperial  and  saintly  Majesty  borrows  five 
thousand  dollars,'  what  would  these  rich  and  wealthy 
Moors    do?"      "Why,"    said     Sid    (iharnet,    "they 
would    call    upon    one   of  these    Vice-Consuls   and 
would     purchase     the     i)rotcction     of     the     Power 
which    he    represented,   and  on    the    following    day 
when  the  agent  of  the    Treasur)-   called    upon    him 
for    the    sum    he    hail    been    assessed    to    pay,    he 
would  simply  snap  his  fingers  at  the  agent  of   the 
Sultan,  and  the    I'ower  by  which  he  was  protected 
would    see    that    his    fortune    was    not    confiscated." 


THE    SHEREEFIAN   COURT.  63 

"  We  do  not  oppose  the  appointment  of  Mr.  McLeod 
as  Consul  in  Fez,"  said  the  Vizier,  in  conclusion, 
"  but  we  do  oppose  the  admission  of  a  principle  which 
would  bring  upon  us  this  horde  of  Vice-Consuls,  and 
it  would  in  the  method  I  have  pointed  out  very 
seriously  reduce  his  Majesty's  power  for  the  raising 
of  the  necessary  funds  for  carrying  on  the  govern- 
ment." 

The  disaffection  of  the  people  of  Fez  becomes 
more  and  more  marked,  and  the  enmity  of  the 
religious  notables  of  the  Kairouin  fills  the  Sultan 
with  still  more  gloomy  trepidations.  The  Fazzi,  it 
should  be  remembered,  were  never  prepossessed  in 
his  favour.  It  will  be  remembered  that,  when  the 
Sultan  was  proclaitr.ed  "  Caliph  of  the  Lord  and 
Throne,"  from  the  Mosque  of  Sid-el-Abbas  in  the 
city  of  Morocco,  he  had  to  fight  his  way  to  Fez,  the 
northern  capital,  and  only  succeeded  in  obtaining 
his  consecration  in  the  venerable  Mosque  of  Mulai 
Edriss  after  a  liberal  shedding  of  blood.  His  army 
was  led  by  the  celebrated  Sid  Mennoo,  to  whose 
affection  the  Sultan  was  mainly  indebted  for  his 
nomination  by  the  people  of  the  city  to  the  throne. 
The  city  was  bombarded  by  Sid  Mennoo,  and,  three 
months  later,  when  the  young  Sultan  felt  himself 
secure,  he  sent  his  benefactor  in  chains  to  Tetuan, 
and  kept  him  there  under  lock  and  key  until  his 
death,  two  years  ago.  The  people  of  Fez  have 
never  forgotten  the  cruelty  with  which  their  opposi- 
tion to  the  young  Sultan  was  suppressed,  and  he  has 
never  succeeded  in  ingratiating  himself  into  their 
favour.     The  day  which  now  seems  to  be  not  very 


64  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

far  distant,  the  day  when  his  power  will  no  lonj^er 
inspire  them  to  a  fearful  obedience,  will  undoubtedly 
be  the  signal  for  the  uprising  of  the  Fazzi,  and  the 
substitution  of  some  other  member  of  the  Shereefian 
family  upon  the  throne,  which  will  perhaps  result  in 
the  general  disintegration  of  the  Empire  into  its  three 
natural  divisions — the  kingdoms  of  Fez,  Morocco, 
and  Tafilet.  The  religious  notables  of  the  Empire 
arc  all  arrayed  in  opposition  to  the  Sultan — wh}', 
it  would  be  difficult  to  say.  The  missionaries  of  the 
Sennussi  Mahdi  are  preaching  treason  and  disloyalty 
through  the  Empire  ;  and  even  in  the  Kairouin  itself 
it  is  announced  by  fanatical  preachers  that  the  Sultan 
is  a  "  Kaffir,"  or  Christian,  and  should  be  deposed 
from  the  throne  of  the  Caliph  which  he  desecrates.  It 
is  quite  certain  that  the  priests  of  the  Kairouin  and  the 
priests  of  all  the  great  mosques  and  shrines  through- 
out the  Empire  tacitly  wink  at  this  anti-d)'nastic 
proi)aganda.  When  it  was  hintetl  about  in  Fez  that 
Sir  Charles  ICuan-Smith  intended  to  raise  the  royal 
cns'gn  over  the  British  Vice-Consulate,  these  notables 
sent  the  Sultan  a  message  to  the  effect  that  his  life, 
as  well  as  the  life  of  the  Foreign  Ambassador,  would 
be  worth  very  little  in   case   this  threat  was  carried 

a 

out,  and  it  was  possibl}-  in  the  lu)[)e  of  ingratiating 
himself  with  the  populace  and  of  curr)-ing  favour 
with  the  religious  notables,  that  the  Sultan  treated 
the  liritish  Mission  with  such  insulting  want  of 
consideration. 

Still,  by  his  other  acts,  the  Sultan  would  seem 
to  be  quite  reckless  of  consequences.  lie  has  suc- 
ceeded in   still  further  alienating  the  people  of  Fez 


THE  SHEREEI'IAN   COURT.  65 

by  enforcing  injudicious  and  unpopular  measures. 
Prominent  among  these  was  the  removal,  some  six 
months  ago,  of  his  very  amiable  brother,  Mulai 
Ismael,  from  the  post  of  Chief  Cadi,  or  Chief  Justice  of 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  Empire,  while  the  soldiery 
are  greatly  displeased  by  the  appointment  of  his 
son,  Abdul  Aziz,  a  boy  of  thirteen  years,  by  a 
Georgian  slave,  Ayesha,  to  the  post  of  Viceroy  of  the 
Kingdom  of  Fez,  with  a  magnificent  vice-regal  court 
and  separate  maintenance,  an  appointment  which  is 
greatly  to  the  prejudice  of  the  Sultan's  eldest  boy  by 
a  legitimate  Shereefa,  Mulai  Mohammed,  who  for  ten 
years  has  been  one  of  the  chief  generals  of  the  army, 
and  is  greatly  beloved  by  the  soldiers.  The  appoint- 
ment of  Abdul  Aziz  would  also  indicate  that  the 
Sultan  regards  him  as  his  successor,  which  would 
certainly  be  a  signal  triumph  of  love  and  the  nomadic 
Georgian  woman  over  the  law  of  the  land  and  the 
wishes  of  the  people. 

The  military  prestige  of  the  Sultan  is  also  dis- 
tinctly on  the  wane.  As  his  years  increase  he  takes 
the  field  more  reluctantly,  and  does  not  lead  his 
soldiers  into  the  battle-field  himself  as  he  formerly 
did.  Two  years  ago  the  old  Imperial  Army  was  put 
to  flight  by  the  Zimoors  and  Zair  tribesmen,  and  the 
Sultan  only  succeeded  in  escaping  capture  by  riding 
for  Rabbat,  and  remaining  eighteen  hours  in  the 
saddle  without  halting.  He  has  grown  more  cau- 
tious, and  his  excursions  into  the  provinces  of  the 
many  insurgent  tribes  are  neither  so  bold  nor  so  fre- 
quent as  they  formerly  were.  Of  course,  at  well- 
defined    intervals   the    Imperial    crier,    or   herald    of 

F 


66  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

victory,  marches  proudly  through  the  interior  towns, 
and  proclaims  to  the  people  the  mighty  victories 
which  have  been  achieved  by  the  great  Caliph,  point- 
ing out  as  proof  positive  of  them  the  heads  of  the 
fallen  nailed  up,  hideous  in  their  putrefaction,  to  the 
portals  of  the  inosquesand  to  the  city  gates.  But  not 
seldom  these  heads  are  recognized  as  those  of  ordinary 
malefactors,  or  of  "  unattached "  Moors  who  have 
"  mysteriously  disappeared."  And  even  in  Morocco, 
where  men  from  their  cradle  learn  to  be  silent  and 
secretive,  the  news  of  the  Sultan's  disasters  and  dis- 
comfitures in  some  mysterious  way  gets  into  circula- 
tion and  travels  through  the  country,  undermining 
his  power  and  diminishing  the  respect  in  which  his 
authority  is  held.  An  amusing  instance  of  the  decay 
of  the  Imperial  power  was  told  me  by  a  vizier  in 
Fez  last  summer.  Some  three  years  ago  Sir  William 
Kirby  Green  sent  the  Sultan,  as  a  present  from  the 
Queen,  a  magnificent  elephant,  the  largest  and  most 
intelligent  that  could  be  fuund  in  the  Indian  jungles. 
This  imposing  beast,  which  was  only  known  to  the 
Moors  by  history  and  from  hearsay,  was  surmounted 
with  a  gorgeous  howdah  studded  with  golden  nails, 
and  covered  with  parti-coloured  silken  scarves.  The 
Sultan  was  greatly  delighted  with  the  Royal  gift,  and 
the  people  of  l-cz  got  together  in  such  masses  to 
watch  the  new  monster,  that  on  several  occasions 
many  women  and  children  were  knocked  down  and 
trodden  to  death,  not  by  the  docile  beast,  but  b)'  the 
insensate  mob  hastening  to  behold  the  animal  in  the 
narrow  streets  that  lead  to  Mulai  Fdriss.  On  every 
1'  ridny,  at  the  hour  of  prayer,  it  was  then  the  Sultan's 


THE   SHEREEFIAN   COURT.  6/ 

custom  to  proceed  to  the  holy  Mosque,  followed  by 
the  elephant,  flanked  on  either  side  by  the  officers 
and  the  chief  dignitaries  of  the  Empire,  whose  feelings 
of  awe  and  admiration  for  their  master's  monstrous 
pet  were  not  untinged  with  fear.  The  Sultan  has 
quite  given  up  going  to  the  public  Mosque  now,  and 
his  prayers  are  said  in  the  private  Mosque  within  the 
palace  grounds.  Why  this  change  of  practice  was 
made  I  will  not  venture  to  express  an  opinion,  but, 
at  any  rate,  the  elephant  is  no  longer  surmounted 
with  the  magnificent  howdah  studded  with  golden 
nails  and  gorgeous  with  the  many-coloured  scarves, 
and  the  cortege  would  not  present  the  handsome 
appearance  that  once  charmed  and  delighted  the 
people  of  Fez.  The  howdah  was  lost  for  ever  in  this 
wise.  Last  September,  a  year  ago,  the  Sultan  was 
surprised  and  somewhat  alarmed  by  the  temerity  of 
three  Zimoor  chieftains,  who  came  to  Fez  and  begged 
an  audience  of  the  Seedna.  After  some  parleying  it 
was  granted  them.  Admitted  to  the  presence  of  the 
Caliph,  the  three  sheiks  prostrated  themselves,  and 
stated  that  they  had  been  sent  to  offer  the  submission 
of  their  tribes,  and  to  request  the  Sultan  to  send  his 
Imperial  tax-gatherers  among  them.  They  pleaded 
that  during  three  years  of  rebellion  they  had  grown 
very  rich,  but  they  now  repented  them  of  their  unfilial 
conduct,  and  were  anxious  to  render  unto  their  lord  the 
tribute  that  was  his  right.  To  these  surprising  offers 
they  added  a  request.  They  had  seen,  they  said,  the 
magnificent  animal  that  walked  before  the  Seedna 
on  his  way  to  the  Mosque,  and  obeyed  the  lord's 
slightest   behest.      They    would    speak — they   must 

F  2 


68  MOROCCO  AS  IT  IS. 

speak,  they  said — of  this  animal,  this  wonderful 
being,  on  their  return  to  the  Zimoor  country  ;  but 
they  were  afraid — nay,  they  were  sure — that  their 
brethren  would  brand  them  as  liars  did  they  dare 
to  pretend  that  the  Sultan  was  followed  by  a  dog 
greater  in  size  than  ten  mules  melted  together. 
Surely  their  brethren  would  cut  their  tongues  off  for 
telling  so  transparent,  so  monstrous  a  he.  To  pre- 
vent this,  would  the  Seedna  request  the  "  Sacred 
Beast"  to  accompany  the  Imperial  tax-gatherers  into 
their  countr}',  where  a  great  store  of  gold  was  await- 
ing them  ?  Strong  as  was  the  "  Sacred  Beast,"  they 
said  they  were  confident  that  he  would  stagger  under 
the  load  of  tribute  under  which  he  would  return. 
The  Sultan  at  first  acceded  to  their  request,  which 
they  advanced  with  such  a  show  of  plausibility,  but, 
on  reconsideration,  lie  informed  them  that  the 
"Sacred  Beast"  was  in  delicate  health;  that  in  the 
following  spring,  however,  he  would  be  delighted  to 
send  him  among  his  faithful  Zimoors.  In  the  mean- 
time, to  save  the  sheiks  from  the  terrible  accusations 
they  suggested  might  be  brought  against  them,  he 
would  entrust  to  his  tax-gatherer  the  priceless  howdah 
which  the  "Sacred  Beast"  bore,  and  by  its  mon- 
strous breadth  their  brothers  would  be  able  to  com- 
pute the  girth  of  the  beast  that  bore  it,  and  would 
know  that  their  sheiks  were  telling  the  truth.  So  a 
luckless  Caid  was  appointed  to  undertake  the  perilous 
journey,  and  entrusted  with  the  keeping  of  the  sacred 
howdaii.  Accompanied  by  the  sheiks  and  an  escort  of 
Imperial  soldiery,  he  set  forth  on  his  perilous  mission, 
and   has   never   been  seen   or   heard    of  since.      The 


to 


o 


c 
m 

V 


/O  MOROCCO  AS  IT  IS. 

howdah,  however,  is  installed  in  the  tent  mosques  of 
the  Zimoors,  and  enjoys  great  renown  for  its  healing 
qualities,  but  the  promised  tribute  under  which  the 
elephant  was  to  stagger  has  not  reached  the  Court  of 
Fez. 

But  some  IMoors  at  least  have  read  the  signs  and 
symbols  of  the  century,  and  by  some  at  least  the 
shadows  of  the  events  that  are  to  come  have  been 
observed.  As  illustrative  at  once  of  the  decadence  of 
the  warlike  spirit,  and  their  unreasoning  and  egotistical 
fanaticism,  which  has  witlistood  the  decadence  of  their 
power  during  the  last  fifty  years,  I  will  here  relate 
a  legend  which  has  run  through  the  country,  and 
which  has  been  told  to  me  many  times  by  influential 
Moors.  In  the  next  decade  there  will  come  from  the 
north-east — so  runs  the  story — a  most  victorious 
general,  a  roumi,  a  Frank,  and  his  soldiers  will  be  no 
more  numerous  than  the  sands  on  the  shore  of  Ras- 
cl-din.  The  Christian  hosts  will  spread  ruin  over  the 
country  like  an  army  of  locusts  coming  from  the 
south,  and,  after  exhibiting  prodigies  of  valour,  the 
army  of  the  Caliph  will  be  completely  annihilated. 
Yes,  the  last  of  the  true  believers  will  die  with 
I'aradisc  in  sight.  The  narrators  generally  inter- 
polate, "Of  course,  we  will  succumb  owing  to  the 
superior  weapons  of  the  Kaffu-s  and  the  subtle  strategy 
of  the  devil,  who  will  send  tlicm  his  aid."  Finally, 
the  Frank  general  will  besiege  Fez,  and,  after  the  last 
supreme  resistance  has  been  overcome,  he  will  enter 
the  Holy  Cit)',  and  march  over  the  dead  bodies  of  the 
true  believers.  lie  will  approach  the  Holy  of  Holies, 
the   thrice  sacred    Mosque  over   the  tomb  of  Mulai 


THE   SHEREEFIAN   COURT.  /I 

Edriss.     Though   he  will  come  as  a  conqueror,  the 
Frank  general  will  be  greatly  troubled  in  spirit  at  the 
bravery  and  valour  of  the  true   believers,  and  he  will 
say   to     his    chief    commanders,    "  See    how    these 
men  die  with  a  smile  upon  their  lips.     Surely  their 
faith    must   be   greater   and    more   comforting   than 
ours."     Then  the  Frank  general  will  enter  the  sacred 
Mosque,  immediately  followed  by  his  chief  officers. 
As  he  walks,  still  greatly   troubled   in   spirit,  he  will 
come  to  the  shrine  under  the  great  central  Kouba  or 
tomb,  which  is  the  canopy  of  the  tomb  of  the  most 
saintly  Mulai  Edriss.     Upon  this  tomb  he  will  see  a 
golden  sword  in  a  golden  scabbard,   encrusted  with 
emeralds,  and  glittering  with  many  other  precious 
stones.     With    trembling   hand    he    will    draw    this 
sword,  and  read  upon  its  bright  surface  in  letters  of 
fire,  "  La  Ilah-illa  Allah   Mahommed-ressul  Allah — 
There  is  no  God  but  God,  and  Mahommed  is  God's 
messenger."     Then    he   will    immediately   prostrate 
himself,    and    bow   his    proud    forehead,    with    the 
garlands  of  victory  still  encircling  it,  until  he  touches 
the  dust  that  lies  on  the  sacred  tomb,  and  he  will  fall 
down  to  worship  the  only   true   God.     He   will  then 
leave  the  temple,  and  find  that  his  horsemen,  one  and 
all,  each  and  every  one  of  the  many  thousands,  will  be 
found  wearing  the  turban,  and   they   will  greet  him 
with    cries    of    "Allah   Akbar,  God    is    great,",  and 
the  Frankish  hosts  will  join  with  the  true  soldiers  ot 
Moghreb,  who  will  arise   from   the  heroic  graves  on 
the  bloody  battle-fields  where  they  have  fallen,  and 
will   join  in  the  prayer  of  the  fatha,  "  Praise   be  to 
God,  the  Lord  of  all  creatures,  the  most  merciful,  the 


72  MOROCCO  AS   IT  IS. 

King  of  the  Day  of  the  Judgment,  to  Thee  do  we  bow 
down,  and  of  Thee  do  we  implore  protection  ;  "  and 
with  this  prayer  they  will  go  forth,  the  Moors  who 
have  arisen,  and  the  Franks  who  have  seen  the  error 
of  their  way,  and  they  will  go  forth  and  overrun  the 
earth  until  there  remains  not  a  people  upon  it  who  do 
not  worship  the  true  God,  and  revere  Mahommed, 
His  Prophet  and  Messenger. 


CHAPTER   V. 

THE   BRITISH   MISSION   TO   FEZ. 

Diplomatic  amenities  in  the  days  of  Mulai  Yazeed— Humilia- 
ting reception  of  Foreign  Envoys  by  his  Shereefian 
Majesty — A  painful  spectacle — "  The  Champion  land- 
grabber  of  a  Jingo  Government" — What  the  Sultan  knew 
of  Sir  Charles'  exploits  at  Zanzibar — The  chair  incident — 
Consternation  of  his  Majesty's  "  Eyebrow  " — Refusal  to 
commence  negotiations — Finally  a  Commission  appointed 
to  consider  commercial  proposals — The  triumph  of  Sid 
Bargash — Conversations  with  the  Sultan — The  fete  of  the 
Ait-el- Kebir — The  riot  before  the  Mission. 

On  my  journey  to  Fez  I  stopped  several  days  in 
Wazzan,  the  most  holy  of  all  the  holy  cities  in 
Morocco.  In  a  beautiful  garden  on  the  outskirts  of 
this  mountain  shrine^  under  the  shade  of  an  um- 
brageous mandragora  tree,  I  was  accustomed  to  hold 
ghostly  converse  every  evening  after  dinner  with  a 
literary  sheik  who  was  something  of  an  antiquarian 
in  his  way.  He  was  a  great  gossip  and  with  all 
manner  of  historical  flotsam  and  jetsam  on  the 
point  of  his  tongue.  "■  O  !  son  of  America,"  he  said, 
"  when  you  reach  the  shrine  of  Mulai  Edriss,  re- 
member my  words,  you  will  then  see  that  there  is  a 
great  difference  in  the  treatment  of  Bashadors  by 
our  present  Lord  and  Caliph  Mulai  Hassan,  may  the 


74  MOROCCO  AS   IT  IS. 

Lord  protect  him,  and  that  which  was  the  custom  of 
his  predecessors  in  the  good  old  days.  Yes,  he  was 
a  caHph — I  mean  Mulai  Yazeed.  Yes  !  when  he 
sat  in  the  shade  of  the  Sherecfian  umbrella,  court 
etiquette  was  indeed  different.  Then,  when  the 
British  Bashador  came  to  IMekinez^  suing  for  peace 
at  the  hands  of  the  Sultan,  he  was  made  to  take  off 
his  shoes,  shave  his  scalp,  and  go  barefooted,  and  as 
a  suppliant  enter  the  audience  Meshwa,  soon  to 
be  hallowed  by  the  presence  of  the  Caliph.  But 
now  I  would  not  be  surprised  if  the  Seedna  should 
invite  the  English  liashador  to  kous-cous-o  at  his 
table." 

The  sequel  will  show  that  the  Caliph  at  present 
shaded  by  the  Sherecfian  umbrella  possesses  many 
of  the  unamiablc  characteristics  of  Mulai  Yazeed  ; 
and  certainly  he  has  not  the  manners  and  customs 
of  the  eighteenth  century  to  serve  as  his  excuse. 

It  was  at  one  time  planned  at  the  Foreign  Office 
to  signalize  the  Mission  of  Sir  Charles  Kuan-Smith, 
by  demanding  of  the  Grand  Vizier  that  more  suitable 
arrangements  for  the  reception  of  the  Bashador 
should  be  made  by  the  Sherecfian  Court,  and  that 
the  consideration  be  shown  him  which,  as  the  re- 
presentative of  her  Majesty  the  Queen,  was  his  due. 
At  the  last  moment,  however,  I  believe  it  was  con- 
cluded that  the  question  of  etiquette  should  yield 
to  more  pressing  commercial  (juestions,  and  not  be 
broached  until  the  treaty  was  negotiated. 

Of  course  the  representative  of  her  Majesty  is  now  no 
longer  compelled  by  the  ceremonial  of  the  Sherecfian 
Court  to  kneel  and  bow   his  forehead   to  the  ground 


Lady  Euan-Smitli^and  daui^hter. 
From  a  Photo^ra^h  by  Walery. 


"J^  MOROCCO  AS  IT  IS. 

ill  the  awful  presence  of  the  Negroid  Monarch  ;  but 
at  the  same  time  the  ceremony  is  humih'ating  enough, 
and,  what  is  worse,  it  is  arranged  with  that  design. 

The  British  ?^Iission,  after  fourteen  days'  travclh'ng, 
reached  Fez  on  May  12th.  The  Bashador  and  his 
family  and  suite  were  lodged  in  the  palatial  house 
of  Sidi  Ben  Xiss,  an  affluent  merchant,  who  was 
summarily  dislodged  by  the  Sultan  to  make  room  for 
this  important  gucst.  The  members  of  the  military 
staff  were  suitably  lodged  in  a  large  house  in  the 
Medinah.  After  keeping  the  Mission  in  quarantine 
for  four  days,  as  is  prescribed  by  the  etiquette  of  the 
Shereefian  Court,  the  Sultan  condescended  to  receive 
the  British  Envoy  in  the  Meshwa. 

It  must  have  been  a  repugnant  sight — the  British 
ambassador,  an  envoy  plenipotentiary  of  her  gracious 
Majesty,  surrounded  by  his  suite,  standing  bare- 
headed in  the  midday  sun,  awaiting  the  coming  of 
the  Biack-a-Moor  Sultan  in  the  cool  shade  of  an 
umbrella  upon  a  prancing  steed  !  Punctuality  is 
not  the  practice  of  the  Mauritanian  princes,  at 
least,  and  in  this  humiliating  situation,  with  the 
eyes  of  all  Fez  upon  them,  the  Bashador  and  his 
suite  were  kept  waiting  for  his  Shereefian  Majesty 
for  fully  half  an  hour.  This  ceremony,  so  humiliating 
and  undignified  for  the  representative  of  a  great 
Christian  power  to  be  compelled  to  submit  to — is  a 
reminiscence  and  a  reminder  of  the  time,  onl)' 
forty  years  ago,  when  ever)-  nation  of  Christendom 
paid,  and  right  cheerfully  too,  the  Sultan  a  tribute 
that  he  might  undertake  to  poh"cc  the  Straits  of 
Gibraltar,  and   prevent    the    Salee  and   Riff  pirates 


THE   BRITISH  MISSION   TO   FEZ.  77 

from  preying  on  merchantmen.  I  for  one  am  de- 
lighted that,  not  having  reached  Fez,  I  was  spared 
the  painful  sight. 

I  \vas  in  [Morocco,  and  had  travelled  through 
the  country  several  months  before  the  departure 
of  Sir  Charles  Euan-Smith  and  the  British  ^Mission 
from  Tangier  on  the  hot  and  unlovely  road  which 
leads  to  Fez.  I  found  that  rumour  had  taken  great 
liberties  with  the  personality  of  the  new  British 
"  Bashador."  French  and  Spanish  emissaries  had 
poured  into  the  ears  of  the  credulous  Moors  some 
very  incorrect  accounts  of  his  diplomatic  success  in 
India  and  Zanzibar.  It  v.-as  stated  that  the  appoint- 
ment of  Sir  Charles  portended  a  change  from  the 
traditional  policy  of  Great  Britain  towards  ^Morocco. 
It  was  stated  and  believed  that  Sir  Charles  was  the 
"Champion  Landgrabber"  of  the  English  Foreign 
Office  ;  that  he  had  been  sent  out  with  the  secret 
mission  of  getting  complete  control  of  the  aftairs  of 
the  country,  and  for  the  purpose  of  at  some  opportune 
moment,  the  coming  of  which  he  was  to  hasten  as  far 
as  it  lay  in  his  power,  proclaiming  a  British  pro- 
tectorate. When  the  Moors  asked  for  some  proof  of 
these  startling  assurances,  they  were  politely  requested 
by  these  French  and  Spanish  emissaries  to  look  at 
Zanzibar.  There,  ran  their  narrative,  this  dreadful 
"  Bashador''  had  gone  simply  as  a  consul,  and  in  less 
than  four  years  the  sovereignty  of  the  Muscat  Sultan 
was  gone,  and  the  island  of  Zanzibar  under  British 
control.  What  could  have  been  more  interesting 
and  convincing  ?  So  the  Sultan  I\Iulev  Hassan  was 
indeed  very  much   troubled  in  spirit  when  one  fine 


yS  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

morning- in  June,  Sid  Hamct  Ben  Moussa,  familiarly 
termed  his  Majesty's  "  Eyebrow,"  announced  that 
the  new  Basha,  the  famous  subduer  of  Sultans,  was 
within  the  precincts  of  the  sacred  cit}-. 

The  first  attempt    of  the  Sultan  to  show  to    the 
British    Envoy    that    he   was    not    "  afraid "    of    her 
gracious  Majesty's   "  Champion  Landgrabber "  is  so 
ludicrous  that  I  cannot  forbear  from  relating  it  here. 
Though    trivial,    it    is    indeed    typical    of  the    petty 
annoyances   to   which    are   exposed    those  unhappy 
diplomatists  whose  careers  are  cast  in   El  Moghreb, 
and  at  the  same  time  it  reveals  better  than  volumes 
the  mental  calibre  of  his  Shereefian  Majesty.     At  his 
first    interview  with  the    Sultan,    Sir  Charles  Euan- 
Smith  found  that,  although  Mulei  Hassan  was  very 
snugly  seated  on  a  throne-chair,  with  any  number  of 
embroidered  cushions  to  render  it  still  more  comfort- 
able for  him,  the  only  accommodation  forthcoming  for 
the  British  Envoy  was  a  camp  stool  without  a  back, 
and    of  alarmingly  fragile   proportions,  upon  which 
Sir  Charles  was  compelled  to  sit  the  five  long  hours 
that  were  spent  in  the  hollow  exchange  of  compliments 
at  this  first  audience.     /\t  the  conclusion   the  Jiritish 
Minister  informed  the  "  I'^yebrow,"  through  one  of  his 
secretaries,  that  if  his  Shereefian  Majesty  could  not  find 
in  his  palace  a  more  suitable  and  substantial  resting, 
place  for  the  liritish  I*'nvoy  than   the  camp-stool   in 
the  future  he  would  bring  with   him   to  the  audience 
chamber  his  own  chair. 

When  this  communication  was  interpreted  to  him 
the  worthy  "  E)ebrow  "  almost  went  into  a  fit ;  but 
nevertheless,  before  the  next  interview,  a  large  though 


THE   BRITISH  MISSION   TO   FEZ.  79 

sorry  array  of  chairs  was  submitted  to  the  British 
Minister  for  his  choice,  and  as  the  collection  included 
a  suitable  fauteuil  the  "  chair  incident"  was  closed; 
but  now  Sir  Charles  stood  convicted  as  a  "■  Land- 
grabber,"  or  how  else  would  he  have  had  the  audacity 
to  criticize  the  Shereefian  chair,  in  which  had  sat,  as 
Sid  Gharnet  maintained  (and  it  was  quite  apparent 
the  Grand  Vizier  for  once  told  the  truth),  every 
foreign  Bashador  that  had  come  to  the  Court  of 
Morocco  for  the  last  fifty  years. 

Audience  after  audience  was  accorded  the  British 
Minister,  but  for  the  first  month  of  his  residence  in 
Fez  absolutely  no  progress  was  made  in  the  negotia- 
tions for  a  commercial  treaty.  Proceedings  hung  fire 
at  the  complimentary  stage. 

After  the  usual  interminable  visits  of  ceremony 
for  the  exchange  of  compliments  had  been  paid.  Sir 
Charles  Euan-Smith  formally  told  the  Sultan  that 
the  purpose  of  his  presence  in  Fez  was  to  improve 
the  commercial  relations  between  the  two  countries, 
and  thus  cement  by  new  ties  the  friendship  of  the 
two  great  empires.  The  Sultan  feigned  surprise  at 
these  words,  and  showed  some  irritation  at  the  British 
Minister's  request.  He  stated  that  he  had  regarded 
the  visit  of  the  Mission  as  purely  one  of  courtesy,  and 
intimated  that  he  had  made  to  Count  Tattenbach, 
the  German  Minister  in  the  preceding  year,  all  the 
concessions  that  Christendom  might  expect  from 
him  for  many  years  to  come.  In  reply  to  the 
British  Minister's  inquiry  as  to  how  he  should  act, 
Lord  Salisbury  charged  him  to  tell  the  Sultan 
that  this  attitude  would  not  be  put  up  with  at  all. 


So  MOROCCO  AS   IT  IS. 

Finally,  with  a  bad  will  that  was  quite  evident, 
the  Sultan  consented  to  enter  upon  the  negotia- 
tions, which  he  seemed  quite  determined  should 
never  come  to  a  satisfactory  conclusion.  He  ap- 
pointed a  Commission  of  thirty  Oolema  and  viziers 
to  wait  upon  the  British  Minister  in  his  house 
every  afternoon,  and  discuss  with  him  the  pro- 
visions of  the  proposed  treaty.  Naturally  enough, 
a  Commission  of  such  size  was  a  very  unwieldy  in- 
strument indeed,  and,  after  an  experiment  of  ten 
days,  when  the  British  Minister  called  upon  the 
thirty  to  report  progress,  he  found  they  had  made 
none  whatever ;  had  not,  in  fact,  read  over  the 
propositions  for  the  treaty  drafted  in  the  Foreign 
Office  which  the  British  Minister  had  submitted  to 
them. 

Day  after  day  one  of  the  Committeemen  would  be 
sick,  or  begged  to  be  excused,  or  absented  himself 
without  excuse,  and  those  who  were  so  poor-spirited 
as  to  come  into  the  court-yard  of  the  Christian  Mis- 
sion immediately  and  almost  invariably  fell  asleep. 
After  making  serious  representations  at  Court,  Sir 
Charles  Euan-Smith  succeeded  in  inducing  the  Sul- 
tan to  reduce  the  number  of  Committeemen,  and  Sid 
Gharnet,  the  Grand  Vizier,  the  chief  Cadi  of  the 
empire,  and  another  gentleman,  of  great  age  and 
great  distinction,  who  was  known  to  the  members  of 
the  Mission  as  the  "sleeping  partner,"  owing  to  the 
fact  that  during  business  hours  his  eyes  were  never 
seen  open,  foregathered  in  the  desecrated  house  of 
Sidi  Ben'  Niss,  discussing  from  early  morn  until  mid- 
night fanegas   of  wheat   and    nuicds  of  barley,  and 


A  Moorish  Soldier  (^Swaui  man). 


G 


82  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

Other  questions   interesting  only  to  the  commercial 
men  of  the  two  countries. 

Word  after  word,  sentence  after  sentence,  and  para- 
graph after  paragraph  the  treaty  was  fought  over,  and 
I  cannot  refrain  from  here  giving  some  expression  of 
the  admiration  I  feel  for  the  diplomatic  prowess  of 
Emfadil  Sid  Gharnet,  the  Grand  Vizier,  seeing  him 
fight  for  twelve  hours  at  a  stretch  over  the  punctua- 
tion of  a  paragraph  or  the  turn  of  a  sentence,  one 
could  well  imagine,  as  I  confess  I  did,  that  he  re- 
garded the  treaty  as  a  matter  of  great  and  vital 
importance  to  the  empire,  and  that  if  it  were  loosely 
drafted  great  evils  would  result  from  it ;  but,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  he  had,  all  the  time,  not  the  slightest 
intention  of  signing  it.  Moorish  diplomacy  is  one  of 
the  few  things  in  Morocco  that  you  can  admire.  If 
you  really  want  diplomac}-,  this  is  the  genuine 
article. 

According  to  their  ligiits,  in  using  words  to  con- 
ceal their  thoughts  they  are  the  most  successful 
people  in  the  world.  Sid  Gharnet  is  an  intellectual 
wonder.  1  low  he  remembers  all  the  intrigues  with 
which  his  whole  life  has  been  hopelessly  bound  ui)  is 
a  mystery  to  me,  and  yet,  as  a  vizier  remarked  to  me 
in  admiration  of  his  chief,  "  You  know,  Sid  Gharnet 
has  never  been  caught  in  a  lie  )-et." 

The  signal  triumph  of  Moorish  diplomacy  at  the 
Madrid  Conference  cjf  i8So  is  the  cause  of  all  the 
expensive  Missions  that  have  been  sent  by  European 
Powers  to  Fez  in  the  last  twelve  years.  It  will  be 
remembered  that  the  course  of  this  Conference  was 
pjirticularly  smooth,  and  the  prcjceedint^s  were  charac- 


THE  BRITISH  MISSION    TO   FEZ.  83 

terized  by  great  amiability  on  the  part  ot  all  con- 
cerned, and  the  propositions  of  the  European  Powers 
were  met  in  a  delightfully  polite  way, 

Sid  Bargash  smiled  and  bowed  most  suavely,  as 
each  and  every  concession  demanded  by  the  repre- 
sentatives of  Europe  was  propounded  to  him,  and  he 
smilingly  gave  his  assent.  When  the  many  Instru- 
ments and  the  many  paragraphs  of  the  treaty  had 
all  been  read  over  and  accepted  by  the  Moors 
without  any  discussion,  Sid  Bargash — may  his  tribe 
decrease  1 — arose,  and  in  an  apologetic  tone  as  be- 
came a  barbarian  daring  to  speak  before  so  many 
great  and  learned  taleebs  of  Europe,  said  that  he 
was  commissioned  by  the  Sultan  to  accept  each  and 
every  provision  of  the  proposed  treaty  under  one 
condition.  "  You  ask,"  said  he,  "that  the  Christians 
shall  be  allowed  to  build  houses  in  Moorish  towns. 
We  shall  be  delighted  to  have  them  come  and  dwell 
with  us.  You  ask  that  the  Christians  shall  be  allowed 
to  give  testimony  in  the  Shraa,  and  so  obtain  a  legal 
status  before  the  law  of  the  land.  We  shall  be 
delighted  to  have  them  in  our  Courts ;  but,  at  the 
same  time,  this  can  only  be  granted  under  the  condi- 
tion that  no  Christian  can  have  any  of  these  rights 
without  the  approval  of  the  Bashaw  of  the  province 
in  which  he  lives.  Of  course,"  said  Sid  Barga-^h, 
"  we  who  are  men  of  the  world  understand  fully  that 
this  Veto  power  vested  in  the  Bashaw  will  never  be 
used  ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  there  are,  as  you  know, 
a  small  number — a  very  small  number — of  Christians 
in  Morocco,  outcasts  from  their  own  country,  who 
make  a  great  deal  of  trouble  ;  and  these,  it  seerns  to 

G   2 


84  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

me,  the  Bashaw  of  any  province  should  be  entitled 
to  have  a  certain  control  over."  The  Christian 
diplomats  unanimously  applauded  their  Moorish 
colleague.  For  a  black  man  they  thought  him 
remarkable — quite  a  gentleman  in  fact. 

Since  then  their  opinion  of  Sid  Bargeesh  has 
changed,  and  the}-  now  all  sec  how  they  were  hood- 
winked by  the  astute  Moor.  Owing  to  the  condi- 
tional clause,  "  with  the  consent  of  the  Bashaw" 
not  a  single  paragraph  of  the  Madrid  treaty  has 
become  operative.  Not  a  single  Bashaw  in  the 
whole  empire  has  ever  given  his  consent  to  any  of 
the  concessions  which  in  a  large  and  generous  spirit 
Sid  Bargeesh  showered  so  plentifully  on  his  Chris- 
tian colleagues  at  the  Conference. 

Finally,  when  the  honour  of  sitting  in  juxtaposition 
to  the  Sultan  in  his  private  kouba  in  the  Palace 
Garden,  and  of  being  surrounded  by  his  advisers 
morning  after  morning,  and  night  after  night,  seemed 
only  to-be  appreciated  by  the  British  Envoy  at  its 
proper  value,  the  Sultan  informed  him  that  he  made 
it  a  rule  never  to  commence  business  with  a  foreign 
envoy  until  he  had  known  him  for  six  weeks.  So 
the  Mission  took  a  well-earned  vacation  of  six 
weeks,  and  all  hands  endeavoured  to  repair  the  ice 
machine,  which  most  inopportunely  had  fallen  out 
of  working  order.  Fez  in  the  month  of  Ansera 
without  an  ice  machine,  and  without  the  appliances 
universal  in  India  for  keeping  down  the  tem})era- 
ture,  is  probably  as  near  an  approach  to  Purgatory  as 
this  earth  can  furnish. 

Should  any  doubt   be  thrown   on   the  accuracy  of 


THE   BRITISH  MISSION    TO   FEZ.  8$ 

the  following  conversation,  as  the  despatches  of  the 
Foreign  Office  are  not  very  accessible,  the  curious 
minded  to  find  confirmation,  will  have  to  go  to  Fez, 
where  they  will  find  this  conversation  and  every  other 
that  took  place  between  Sir  Charles  Euan-Smith  and 
the  Sultan  beautifully  written  out  with  illuminated 
text  and  filed  away  between  red  leather  covers  in  the 
library  of  Kairouin.  These  archives  are  the  particular 
care  of  ten  learned  historians  whom  the  Sultan  pays  to 
hand  down  to  posterity  a  laudatory  history  of  his  reign. 
This  incomplete  series  of  volumes  now  amounts  to 
600,  each  bulky  and  of  very  portly  proportions. 

"  Morocco,"  said  the  Sultan  one  day  to  Sir  Charles, 
"  is  like  a  beautiful  girl.  She  has  many  ardent 
suitors.  She  finds  her  safety  from  their  number." 
Then  abruptly,  "  What  portion  of  this  Empire  does 
England  desire.'''  "  We  do  not  covet  a  single  rood  of 
your  country,"  was  the  English  Bashador's  reply. 
"But  what,"  said  the  Sultan  with  insistence,  "will 
be  the  attitude  of  England  when  the  dismemberment 
of  my  Empire  comes,  as  the  wise  men  of  Europe  say 
it  is  coming.  When  the  Powers  divide  up  Morocco 
what  will  England  do  .■*  "  "  Should,"  said  Sir  Charles, 
"  through  any  fault  of  your  own,  the  dismemberment 
of  your  Empire  enter  into  practical  politics,  England 
I  believe,  will  never  permit  any  other  power  to  take 
Tangier  or  occupy  any  other  portion  of  the  surround- 
ing country  on  the  coast  or  the  "Hinterland"  in 
such  a  manner  as  in  any  way  to  affect  the  strategic 
importance  of  Gibraltar  and  Tangier,  or  to  affect  or 
straiten  their  avenues  of  supply  and  sustenance." 
"  This,  of  course,''^  Sir  Charles  added,  "  is  merely  a 


S6  MOROCCO  AS   IT  IS. 

personal  opinion  as  to  what  may  happen  under  cir- 
cumstances which,  as  I  have  said,  I  think  are  very 
remote."  "  But,"  continued  the  English  Envoy, 
"  there  is  a  way  in  which  your  Majesty  can  prevent 
the  subject  of  the  dismemberment  of  your  Empire 
being  even  mooted,  and  that  is  by  throwing  open 
}Our  doors.  Morocco  is  a  mediaeval  morass,  as  you 
know.  Let  )'our  people  retain  their  religion  and  the 
customs  of  their  fathers,  but  join  in  the  progress  of 
the  world,  negotiate  treaties  with  England  and  with 
other  European  Powers.  It  will  enrich  \ou,  and  will, 
I  believe,  prove  the  salvation  of  }our  country  and 
the  strengthening  and  support  of  your  dynast)'. 
The  day  that  the  commercial  relations  of  Morocco 
are  satisfactory  and  profitable,  as  they  would  soon 
become  to  the  civilized  Powers,  the\'  will  all  be 
united  in  assisting  you  to  maintain  the  status  quo 
should  any  Power  set  covetous  eyes  upon  any  por- 
tion of  your  territor)'." 

The  Sultan,  I  have  reason  to  believe,  was  very 
much  impressed  with  this  language ;  but,  as  will 
be  seen,  his  fatalistic  temperament  and  the  force  of 
the  bigoted  and  ignorant  men  who  surround  him  pre- 
vailed. He  in(iuired  of  Sir  Charles  many  times  as  to 
what  advice  England  gave  him  in  regard  to  the 
Touat  question.  Again  and  again  Sir  Charles  ad- 
vised him  to  maintain  good  relations  v.ith  France, 
which  was  a  great  North-African  Power.  lie  ad- 
vanced for  argument  that  even  supposing  the  French 
.Minister  could  do  nothing  to  strengthen  the  TVench 
pretensions  to  Touat,  yet  he  (Sir  Charles)  thought, 
in  view  of  tiic  blood  and  treasure   I'' ranee  had  spent 


THE   BRITISH   MISSION    TO   FEZ.  87 

in  the  conquest  of  Algeria,  even  if  her  territorial 
claims  to  Touat  were  not  substantial,  that  for  reasons 
of  State  she  would  be  perfectly  justified  in  seizing 
the  land  of  Bou  Amena.  "  This  province,"  said  Sir 
Charles,  "  directly  borders,  if  it  does  not  offer  to 
France  the  best  connecting  link  between  her  North 
African  and  West  African  possessions,  and  besides 
the  most  important  caravan  routes  from  Lake  Chad 
and  from  Timbuctoo  pass  through  this  country. 
Should,  owing  to  the  vicinity  of  such  autocratic 
chiefs  as  Amena,  the  routes  be  threatened  or  become 
unsafe,  I  for  my  part  (of  course  this  is  also  only  a 
personal  opinion)  would  think  France  quite  justified 
in  seizing  the  whole  country,  and  I  cannot  but  advise 
you,  unofficially,  to  avoid  by  every  means  in  your 
power  getting  into  an  entanglement  with  your 
Western  neighbours  about  this  question,  and  to 
make  every  concession  compatible  with  the  integrity 
of  your  Empire." 

"  Why  should  I  grant  you  this  treaty,"  said  the 
Sultan  one  day,  petulantly,  to  the  British  Minister, 
"  when  there  are  half-a-dozen  ministers  in  Tangier 
who  have  asked  it  of  me  for  twenty  years  past  ?  you 
a  new  Minister,  and  they  old  friends  !  Why  should 
I  give  it  you?"  "Because,"  replied  Sir  CharLs, 
"  Mektub  Ilia"  (it  is  written) — a  convincing  answer 
to  the  Moorish  mind,  which  brought  tears  of  admira- 
tion to  Sid  Gharnet's  eyes,  who  admires  aplomb,  even 
when  exhibited  by  an  adversary. 

The  relations  between  the  Envoy,  the  Sultan  and 
Sid  Gharnet  became  so  strained,  that  at  one  time,  I 
believe.  Sir  Charles  Euan-Smith  proposed  to    leave 


88  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

the    capital  without    the   usual   formal  leave-taking. 
It  had  now  become  quite  apparent  that  the  Sultan 
was  most  anxious  to   avoid   signing  a   treaty  at  all, 
and  it  was   quite  certain  that   he  would   not  sign   a 
treaty  in  any  way  adequate  to  the   demands  of  the 
British  commercial   world.     The   Sultan,  during  the 
week  that  preceded  the  great  feast,  or,  as  we  called  it, 
the  great  feed,  which  commenced  on  July  the  5th, 
played  a  very  double-dealing  role  indeed.     When  the 
British  Envoy  demanded  an  audience,  he  would  ask, 
"  And  how  are  the  negotiations  for  the  treaty  getting 
on  }     Well,  I  hope  }  "  and  evinced   the  greatest  sur- 
prise   when  Sir   Charles   Euan-Smith   informed  him 
that  neither   Sid  Gharnet  nor  any  of  the  viziers  had 
been  to   the   Mission  for  three  days,  and,  when  sent 
for,  had  absolutely  refused  to  come.     Believing  now 
that  the   Sultan   had  not  connived  at  this  want  of 
respect  to  himself,    the  British  Envoy  brought  Sid 
Gharnet  and  the  Oolema  to  book  ;  but  Sid  Gharnet 
protested  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  and  produced  proof 
positive  of  the  truth  of  what  he  was  saying,  that  the 
Sultan  had  ordered  him  under  no  account  to  go  near 
the  British  Mission,  and  had  e-xprcssed    to  him  his 
greatest  displeasure  at  the  frequency  of  the  visits  he 
had  already  paid  there. 

On  the  morning  of  the  5th  of  July,  the  Ait-el- 
Kebir,  the  Moorish  new  year  began. 

Long  before  daybreak  we  were  awakened  by  the 
continuous  fire  of  musketry  outride  the  walls,  and,  as 
the  sun  rose  over  the  city,  the  streets  were  alive 
with  throngs  of  Berbers  and  other  wild  barbaric 
chieftains,  who  frightened  the  quiet  Fazzi  out  of  their 


r'-'~  J-  '■  -i r- 


*''  J?  fA&l         ' 


^^.■^'iJi,! 


r- 


"*,^ 


^ 


r  \ 


i^-r-i-.i-i-^'     I?' 


r  1  »  1 V 


il.. 


^*< 


The  Reception  of  the  Mission  by  the  Sultan. 
From  "  T!ie  CrapJticy  by  permission. 


90  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

propriety  by  powder  play  and  all  manner  of  wild 
antics.  By  six  o'clock  we  were  all  in  the  saddle,  and 
on  our  way  towards  the  Place  of  Sacrifice,  beyond  the 
city  walls  and  near  the  Palace  Gate.  We  had  only 
waited  a  few  minutes  in  the  immense  silent  throng 
that  covered  the  hill  side,  when  the  Palace  Gates 
were  thrown  open,  and  the  Sultan  with  his  escort 
appeared.  This  was  my  first  view  of  the  great 
mystic,  that  fearful  tyrant  who  dwells  secluded  from 
the  world,  solitary  in  his  palace,  solitary  in  his  tent, 
and  solitary  in  the  midst  of  armies,  where  no  one  may 
approach  him.  He  was,  as  always,  dressed  in  very 
finely  spun  white  silk  clothing,  haik,  Jelab  and  caftan, 
all  apparently  of  the  same  hue.  He  was  riding  a 
magnificent  white  stallion  of  the  Abda  breed,  the 
colour  of  his  mount  indicating  that  he  was  in  a  genial 
mood  and  at  peace  witli  all  the  world.  His  high 
peaked  saddle  was  covered  with  green  and  purple 
silk,  and  the  animal  he  rode  proudly  carried  mag- 
nificent trappings  of  the  same  imperial  hue.  The 
Sultan  was  closely  followed  by  the  men  of  his  bed- 
chamber on  foot,  and  was  surrounded  by  his  trusted 
body-guard  of  Harrabas,  or  inf.intr)-  instructors, 
under  the  command  of  Caid  Harry  McLean,  formerly 
an  officer  in  the  English  Army.  Then  came  a  brass 
band  of  Sussi  negroes,  who  were  taught — or  rather 
mis-taught — to  play  the  brasses  by  two  renegade 
Spanish  musicians.  It  is  said  that,  as  a  reward  for 
their  services  in  ti  aching  the  ncgrois  harmony,  the 
Sultan  had  them  bastinadoed  to  death — a  punishment 
whicii,  after  hearing  the  music  made  by  their  scholars, 
one    can    only  say    was    (juite    iiiade(|uate    to    their 


THE   BRITISH  HUSSION    TO   FEZ.  9 1 

ofifence.  Then  came  four  light  field  guns  in  charge 
of  the  French  military  mission  to  Morocco,  and  four 
mountain  guns  on  mules.  Then  with  majestic  stride 
came  the  elephant  "Stoke,"  with  his  forehead 
painted  green  and  purple,  the  colours  of  the  festal 
day.  "  Stoke "  was  followed  by  his  personal  suite, 
two  Indian  coolies  on  horseback,  and  ten  servants 
attached  exclusively  to  his  person,  all  wearing  green 
jackets.  Then  came  six  led  horses  from  the  Sultan's 
private  stable.  I  was  very  much  disappointed  in 
them. 

The  Sultan  rode,  of  course,  under  the  holy 
umbrella  lined  with  green  and  purple,  and  was  im- 
mediately preceded  by  two  fine-looking  Soudanese 
carrying  the  long  spears  of  their  office.  Then  came 
the  fly-catchers  and  the  other  personal  attendants 
of  the  Sultan,  with  Malem-Sha,  the  Master  of 
Ceremonies,  and  Sid  Mahomed  Ben  Moussa,  the 
"  Eyebrow,"  or  confidential  Pooh-Bah  of  the  Sheree- 
fian  Court.  His  cortege  concluded  with  a  large  body 
of  mounted  men,  or  irregular  cavalry,  I  should  say  ; 
some  of  them  were  the  ordinary  emhazni,  or  Imperial 
cavalry,  but  the  greater  part  were  deputations  from 
the  neighbouring  tribes  who  had  come  from  afar 
to  wish  the  great  Seigneur  many  happy  returns 
of  the  day.  Slowly  the  cortege,  headed  by  the 
mystic  figure  in  white,  proceeds  up  the  hill  to 
the  Place  of  Sacrifice,  and  the  40,000  people  that 
watched  the  scene  would  seem,  in  respectful  awe, 
even  to  hold  their  breath,  so  silent  are  they.  Facing 
the  east,  with  head  bent  over  his  horse's  proud  arching 
neck,  the  Sultan  recites   the   Fatha,  or  first   verse  of 


92  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

the  Koran ;  then  turning  about  he  faces  the 
multitude,  and  one  by  one,  hi  the  order  of  their 
seniority,  the  chiefs  of  his  household,  the  Aghas,  or 
Army  Colonels,  pass  before  him,  and  with  low 
obeisance  salute  their  lord,  wishing  him  many  happy 
returns  of  the  da)\ 

A  salute  is  then  fired  from  the  old  bastion,  from 
which  the  Sultan,  twenty  years  ago,  shelled  Fez  that 
refused  to  accept  him  as  Caliph.  Slowly  the  cortege 
now  descends  the  hill,  and  re-enters  the  Palace  Gate. 
Here  the  Sultan's  household  are  assembled  in  the 
first  courtyard.  He  blesses  them,  and  with  his  own 
Shereefian  hand  cuts  the  throat  of  a  sheep.  Bleed- 
ing and  dying,  the  animal  is  hoisted  on  the  shoulders 
of  a  stout  negro,  who,  covered  with  blood,  races  out 
of  the  Palace  through  Bab  Sigma  into  the  city,  fol- 
lowed by  an  immense  crowd  exhorting  him  to  greater 
speed.  The  man  runs  like  a  deer,  despite  his  heavy 
burden,  through  the  intricate  streets  of  the  town 
towards  the  shrine  (jf  Mulai  Edriss.  Hundreds,  and 
I  may  thousands,  follow  him,  regarding  the  proceed- 
ings with  superstitious  awe.  Covered  with  blood 
and  sweat,  he  runs  into  the  sacred  Koubba  and 
deposits  his  burden  on  the  tomb  of  the  saint.  Then 
the  people  crowd  around  to  sec  if  the  sheep  be 
yet  alive,  as  they  attach  great  importance  to 
this  fact,  and  from  it  presage  a  good  year  for  the 
countr)'.  I  believe  the  sheep  always  does  roach 
the  shrine  while  )-ct  living.  Should  he  die,  another 
of  the  inany  that  arc  being  carried  about  the 
city  with  throats  cut  is,  I  have  heard,  cleverly  sub- 
stituted. 


THE    BRITISH  MISSION    TO   FEZ.  93 

This  year  the  sheep  was  still  alive,  and  a  great  cry 
of  joy  rang  out  from  the  multitudes  gathered  about 
the  temple,  as  the  faithful  Emins  came  out  and 
notified  the  people  to  this  effect.  The  strange  bar- 
baric ceremony  reminded  me  very  much  of  one  I  saw 
many  years  ago  in  Florence  on  Easter  Sunday,  when, 
as  I  remember  it,  pigeons  are  let  loose  by  the  priest 
at  the  altar  of  the  Duomo  ;  and,  while  thousands 
and  thousands  of  peasants  in  the  Piazza  round  about 
fall  on  their  knees  in  prayer,  watching  the  direction 
the  liberated  birds  take  in  their  flight,  upon  which 
they  suppose  depends  the  success  or  failure  of  the 
year's  harvest. 

At  midday  Mr.  Fernau,  British  Vice-Consul  at 
Casa-Blanca,  acting  under  instructions  from  Sir 
Charles  Euan-Smith,  proceeded  from  the  Embassy 
into  the  Medinah,  or  city  where  the  British  Vice- 
Consul  in  Fez,  Mr,  McLeod,  resides.  Mr.  Fernau 
was  accompanied  by  a  servant  carrying  a  flagstaff 
(not  a  flag),  on  which  it  was  intended  on  some  early 
date  to  hoist  the  British  ensign  over  the  Vice-Con- 
sulate, as  by  the  treaty  of  1856  Great  Britain  and 
any  other  power  has  a  perfect  right  to  do.  One  of 
the  Moorish  soldiers  on  guard  at  the  Legation,  seeing 
Mr.  Fernau  going  down  towards  the  Medinah  Gate, 
ran  immediately  to  the  Basha,  Busha-el-Bagdadi,  and 
informed  him  that  the  British  Vice-Consul  was  about 
to  hoist  the  ensign  over  the  Consulate.  The  Basha 
instantly  closed  the  gate  into  the  Medinah,  and, 
though  Mr.  Fernau  repeatedly  called  upon  him  to 
open  it,  he  refused  to  do  so.  On  his  way  back  to 
the  Mission  Mr.   Fernau,  Mr.  Vismes  de  Ponthieu, 


94  MOROCCO  AS  n  is. 

the  first  Dragoman  of  the  British  Legation,  and  Mr. 
McLeod,  were  repeatedly  struck  by  stones,  and 
indeed  had  a  very  narrow  escape  from  the  bands  of 
vagabonds  and  ruffians  who  had  at  the  word  of  the 
Basha  been  sent  to  attack  them.  The  absence  of  the 
British  Envoy  and  every  member  of  his  staff  from 
the  ceremony  in  the  forenoon  had  given  great  offence 
to  the  Sultan.  The  beginning  of  the  unfriendly  re- 
lations, however,  goes  back  to  a  trivial  incident 
enough  of  the  preceding  week.  Sir  Charles  asked  of 
Sid  Gharnet  permission  to  visit  the  sulphur  springs 
of  Moulai  Yakoub,  a  famous  shrine.  The  Grand 
Vizier  answered  that  he  would  have  to  ask  the 
Sultan's  consent.  No  answer  having  been  received 
from  Court,  two  days  later  Sir  Charles  and  his  staff 
rode  out  of  the  city  and  visited  the  shrine,  thereby 
giving  great  offence  to  the  religious  notables.  It  was 
on  the  day  following  this  excursion  that  the  Sultan 
forbad  Sid  Gharnet  to  continue  negotiations  with  the 
British  Envoy.  The  visit  to  the  shrine  necessitated 
a  ride  of  thirty  miles.  The  Sultan  would  not  believe 
that  Sir  Charles  would  have  undertaken  it  unless 
urged  on  by  the  strong  motive  of  having  wished  to 
affront  him. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE   BRITISH    MISSION    TO   FEZ — [Contimied). 

The  instigators  of  the  emeufe—The  Sultan,  the  Bashaw,  or  both 
— The  Sultan  removes  the  animals  lent  to  the  Mission 
without  asking  leave — Sultan  angry  with  Sir  Charles  be- 
cause he  was  not  present  at  the  New  Year's  reception — 
"  Many  happy  returns  of  the  day  "  in  Moorish — The  flagstaff 
incident — The  Mission  besieged — The  historic  interview 
between  the  English  Envoy  and  the  Sultan — The  Sultan 
fines  Bushta  and  sends  his  Kalifa  to  prison — A  dinner 
without  our  host — Lady  Euan-Smith — "What  soldiers 
these  Englishwomen  make  !  " 

It  is  very  difficult  to  speak  with  precision  as  to  the 
causes  of  the  riotous  demonstrations  before  the 
Mission.  They  may  have  been  simply  spontaneous 
outbursts  of  the  anti-Christian  feeling  for  which, 
even  in  fanatical  Morocco,  the  Fazzi  are  well  known. 
Undoubtedly  the  stories  that  had  been  circulated 
widely  among  the  people  as  to  the  real  purposes  of 
the  Mission  had  given  great  offence,  and  the  attitude 
of  the  people  one  met  in  the  street  and  in  the 
bazaars  had  certainly  undergone  a  great  change  in  the 
ten  days  preceding  the  New  Year  feast.  The  Sultan 
deeply  resented  the  visit  of  Sir  Charles  to  the  waters  of 
Mulai  Yakoub,  and  I  am  strongly  inclined  to  believe 
that  the  rioters  received  their  orders  and  their  pay 
either  from  Busta-el-Bagdadi,,  or  from  the  Sultan  him- 


g6  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

self.  And  I  am  still  further  strengthened  in  this 
belief  from  the  fact  that  before  the  emeiitc  com- 
menced the  master  of  the  Sultan's  horse  removed  all 
the  animals  belonging  to  the  Imperial  stables  from 
the  Mission-house  and  from  the  mess.  These  animals 
had  been  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  Bashador  by 
the  Sultan,  and  in  removing  them  without  a  word  of 
explanation  a  direct  affront  was  put  upon  the  Mis- 
sion, and  certainly  this  could  only  have  been  done 
either  at  the  command  of  the  Sultan  or  with 
his  consent.  The  purpose  of  removing  all  the 
horses  and  the  mules  was  to  bring  home  to  the 
members  of  the  Mission  how  completely  they  were 
in  the  power  of  the  Sultan,  how  great  their  isola- 
tion and  helplessness  really  was,  and  it  succeeded. 
But  at  the  same  time  this  move  could  not  have 
been  made  without  there  was  some  anticipatory 
knowledge  in  the  Palace  of  the  riot  that  was  to  come. 
The  Sultan's  participation  is  susceptible  of  further 
proof,  but  I  will  not  go  deeper  into  the  matter,  as  I 
think  from  the  foregoing  incident  it  will  appear 
quite  clearly  proven. 

The  Sultan  was  undoubtedly  very  angr}-  with  the 
liriti.sh  Envoy  for  neither  appearing  in  person,  nor 
allowing  any  of  the  Mission  to  appear  officially  at 
the  Ait  feast  in  the  morning.  The  feast  is  a  social  as 
well  as  a  religious  function.  In  absenting  himself,  and 
in  forbidding  the  members  of  the  Mission  from  even 
witnessing  the  ceremony,  the  British  Envoy  created  a 
sensation  which  we  in  Europe  can  better  understand 
by  asking  what  would  be  thought  in  the  W'ilhelm 
Strasse   if   the    Russian    Ambassador   and    his    staff 


THE   BRITISH  MISSION    TO   FEZ. 


97 


should  fail  to  appear  at  the  Emperor's  defilir-cotir 
on  New  Year's  Day  ?  and  not  think  it  worth  his 
while  to  make  excuses. 

It  should  also  be  taken  into  consideration  that  the 


The  Riot  before  the  Mission. 
From  "  The  Daily  Graphic,"  by  perjiiission. 

Fazzi  are  not  intellectual  giants,  or  versed  to  any 
extent  in  the  devious  ways  of  a  certain  kind  of 
diplomacy.  They  seem  to  be  a  simple  folk  given 
rather  to  jumping  at  conclusions  than  to  deep 
reflection,  and  on  seeing  Mr.  Fernau,  the  2nd  Drago- 

H 


89  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

man  of  the  Mission,  and  Mr.  Macleod,  the  Vice- 
Consul,  marching  with  dignified  mien  through  the 
town  from  the  Mission  to  the  Consulate,  accom- 
panied by  two  of  the  Swani  servants  of  the  Mission 
dressed  out  in  full  regalia  and  proudly  bearing 
the  flag  pole,  the  Fazzi,  and,  as  I  think,  not  un- 
naturally, came  to  the  conclusion  that  an  attempt 
was  about  to  be  made  to  hoist  the  flag  over  the 
Consulate.  We  know,  however,  that  appearances 
often  deceive,  that  Vice  -  Consul  Macleod  could 
have  used  tlic  flagstaff  either  as  a  tent  pole  or  a 
tooth- pick,  as  kindling  wood,  or  as  a  golf  stick,  but 
the  Fazzi  only  connected  the  appearance  of  the 
flag-pole  in  their  streets  with  the  purpose  for  which 
it  was  originally  intended,  and  I  do  not  blame  them. 
And  it  must  be  added,  more's  the  pity,  that  when  the 
rioters  were  dispersed  b\'  the  Sultan's  soldiers  and  no 
attempt  was  made  then  to  hoist  the  flag,  the  Fazzi 
carried  the  flattering  unction  to  their  souls  that  their 
little  riot  had  prevented  the  British  Bashador  from 
persevering  in  his  original  intention  of  hoisting  the 
flag  over  the  Consulate.  And  they  are  quite  con- 
vinced of  it  to  this  day.  The  next  Christian 
Bashador  who  goes  to  J'cz  should  slccl  his  heart 
against  the  "  suggestion  treatment  by  riotous  demon- 
strations, and  endeavour  to  avoid  even  the  appearance 
of  being  susceptible  to  its  influences." 

As  one  looks  back  upon  it  the  riot  before  the 
Mission  House  in  l"ez  was  really  a  very  mild  affair 
indeed.  It  was,  however,  the  story  of  Manipur 
repeated  with  the  massacre  left  out. 

About  six  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  the  Mission  was 


THE   BRITISH  MISSION    TO   FEZ.  99 

really  in  a  state  of  siege.  Windows  were  smashed 
by  stoneSj  and  it  was  unsafe  to  venture  out 
into  the  gardens.  The  members  of  the  Mission 
and  two  American  gentlemen  travelling  in  Morocco 
gathered  in  the  inner  courtyard,  and  serious 
measures  were  concerted  for  standing  the  siege, 
should  it  assume  a  more  serious  form,  which  at 
that  juncture  seemed  imminent.  The  senior  mili- 
tary officer  of  the  Mission  was  placed  in  charge 
of  the  defence  by  Sir  Charles  Euan-Smith.  At 
this  moment  the  Moorish  Minister  for  War  — Sid 
Gharnet — ten  other  viziers,  and  about  twenty  of 
the  most  prominent  members  of  the  Shereefian 
Court,  rode  up  to  the  Mission  escorted  by  an  armed 
detachment  of  the  Sultanas  personal  body-guard,  and 
besought  in  the  humblest  tones  that  the  British 
Minister  would  come  with  them  to  the  Palace  and 
have  one  last  interview  with  the  Sultan.  Sir  Charles 
mounted  his  horse,  and,  accompanied  by  his  four 
secretaries,  dressed  in  full  regalia,  rode  to  the 
Palace  attended  by  an  escort  of  viziers  such  as  has 
never  before  been  accorded  to  a  minister  of  a  foreign 
Power  in  the  annals  of  the  Shereefian  Court. 
On  their  arrival  at  the  Palace,  Sir  Charles  was  re- 
ceived in  a  coubba,  or  summer  house,  in  the  garden. 
As  Sir  Charles  Euan-Smith,  accompanied  by  the 
viziers  and  an  armed  escort,  was  on  his  way  to  the 
meeting  with  the  Sultan,  there  met  him  at  every 
hundred  yards  or  so  a  personal  attendant  of  the 
Sultan — "  men  of  the  bedchamber "  as  they  are 
called — who  came  galloping  with  breathless  haste 
with  haik  and  burnous  and   many-coloured  kaftans 

H   2 


lOO  MOROCCO   AS    IT   fS. 

floating  behind  them  like  streamers  in  the  wind. 
They  were  mounted  on  magnificent  Barb  horses  that 
had  been  fretted  into  white  foam  by  the  speed  to 
which  thev  had  been  driven.  As  these  "  men  of  the 
bedchamber  "  came  abreast  the  cavalcade  with  one 
cruel  twist  of  the  inhuman  Moorish  bit  they  brought 
their  barbs  to  a  standstill,  and,  leaving  them  quiver- 
ing where  they  stood,  with  bended  knee  kissed  his 
Excellency's  feet,  or  sometimes  but  touched  with 
their  hand  his  feet,  and  then  kissing  their  hand  thus 
made  happy  by  touching  him,  declaimed  in  this  wise  : 
"  My  Lord,  we  pray  you  to  hasten.  Our  Lord 
(Seedna)  beseeches  that  you  come  to  him.  He  will 
neither  cat,  nor  drink,  nor  sleep,  nor  have  any 
peace  until  you  come  to  him.  My  Lord,  we 
beseech  you  to  hasten.  Our  Lord  languishes  for  the 
light  of  )'()ur  countenance."  It  was,  indeed,  a  pic- 
turesque sight  to  see  these  horsemen.  I  counted  no 
fewer  than  twenty  of  them  who  met  Sir  Charles  on 
his  short  ride  of  one  mile  to  the  Palace,  and  each  one 
delivered  the  same  beseeching  message. 

The  Sultan  advanced  towards  him  in  a  state  of  the 
greatest  agitation,  and  said,  "  Your  life  is  in  danger. 
You,  your  wife,  and  all  )Our  j)coplc  must  come 
immediately  to  the  Palace,  and  spend  the  night  here." 

"  My  people,"  he  said,  "  are  greatly  excited  against 
you.  False  rumours  have  been  spread  abroad  as  to 
your  purpose  in  coming  here,  and  I  can  no  longer 
protect  you.  You  must  sleep  here  lo-night  in  the 
Palace — you,  and  >'our  wife  and  your  daughter,  and 
every  membtr  of  the  Mission,  and  in  the  morning 
I    shall     send     ("aid     Maclean     with     one    thousand 


THE   BRITISH  MISSION   TO   FEZ. 


lOI 


Askari  (foot  soldiers)  to  escort  you  to  the  coast. 
Believe  me,  I  speak  as  a  friend  when  I  advise  you  to 
adopt  this  course.  Until  I  know  that  you  and  your 
family  and  the  members  of  your  Mission  are  in 
Tangier,  I  wi'l  neither  sleep,  nor  eat,  nor  drink." 


Bushta  closes  the  Gates. 
From  "  The  Daily  Graphic,^'  l>y  permission. 

Sir  Charles  replied,  "  Your  Majesty  is  mistaken. 
My  life  is  not  in  danger,  for  I  am  in  your  Majesty's 
safe  keeping.'"  The  Sultan  answered,  "  I  am  power- 
less  to   protect  you.      The  direction  of  events  has 


I02  MOROCCO   AS   IT   /S. 

escaped  from  my  hands.  Again  I  say  )'Our  life  is  in 
danger.  If  you  return  to  the  Mission  you  will  be 
killed,  I  am  sure." 

Sir  Charles  Euan-Smith  retorted,  "  Perhaps  I  am 
to  be  killed.  Perhaps  Mr.  McLeod,the  British  Vice- 
Consul,  may  be  killed.  Perhaps,  as  you  say,  the 
whole  Mission  may  be  massacred,  if  you  permit  it  ; 
but  one  thing  I  can  assure  you  of  is,  that  if  this 
happens,  there  will  be  another  British  Minister  in 
Fez  within  a  month.  He  will  be  accompanied  by  a 
Vice-Consul  and  a  staff  as  well  equipped  as  mine, 
and  better  ;  but,"  the  Minister  added  in  deliberate 
tones,  "  then  there  will  not  be  a  Sultan  at  P"ez."  Sir 
Charles,  after  telling  the  story  of  the  murder  of  Major 
Cavagnari  in  Cabul,  and  the  consequent  deposition  of 
the  Ameer,  stated  that  under  no  circumstances  would 
he  sleep  in  the  Palace,  nor  allow  Lady  Euan-Smith  or 
any  member  of  the  Mission  to  take  refuge  anywhere. 
"  Lady  Euan,"  said  Sir  Charles,  when  the  Sultan 
again  endeavoured  to  weaken  his  resolution  by  point- 
ing at  the  dangers  the  lady  members  of  the  Mission 
ran,  "  is  a  soldier's  wife.  She  has  seen  service  in 
every  corner  of  the  globe,  and  she  has  never  needed 
any  protection  but  that  which  the  broad  folds  of  the 
British  flag  have  always  afforded  her." 

"  I  shall  then  write,"  said  the  Sultan  petulantly, 
"  to  her  Majesty's  Government  and  insist  that  your 
Mission  be  withdrawn.  I  am  no  longer  master  of 
the  situation,  and  I  can  no  longer  be  responsible  for 
your  safety  here  or  for  )  our  safe  return  to  the  coast. 
I  shall  despatch  a  special  courier  to  London  and  ask 
that  you  be  ordered  to  return    immediately."     "  Vou 


THE   BRITISH   MISSION   TO   FEZ.  IO3 

are  at  perfect  liberty  to  do  so,"  said  the  British 
Minister.  "  If  you  give  me  the  letter  I  will  forward 
it  to  London  with  the  greatest  despatch,  and  when 
the  wishes  of  her  gracious  Majesty  have  been  ex- 
pressed they  will  be  obeyed  instantly ;  but  in  the 
meantime  I  remain  at  my  post  in  Fez,  and  should 
your  Majesty  permit  these  riotous  demonstrations 
against  the  Mission  to  continue,  we  shall  know  how 
to  protect  ourselves  and  the  dignity  of  the  flag."  At 
the  conclusion  of  this  interview  the  Sultan  nearly 
fainted.  His  nervous  system  seemed  completely 
exhausted,  either  from  the  strain  of  anxiety  under 
which  he  was  labouring,  or  from  his  discomfiture 
at  being  unable  to  weaken  the  firm  resolution  of  the 
soldier  diplomatist.  Sir  Charles  requested  the  Sultan 
to  put  in  writing  the  Sultan's  statement  that  he  no 
longer  considered  himself  master  of  the  situation,  but 
without  success. 

The  Sultan  appeared  astounded  at  the  words  and 
demeanour  of  the  British  Minister.  He  was  to  all 
appearance  firmly  persuaded  that  the  Mission  was  in 
imminent  peril,  and  he  repeatedly  endeavoured  to 
induce  Sir  Charles  to  remain  in  the  Palace,  and  to 
send  for  the  other  members  of  his  party,  but  to  no 
purpose. 

After  one  of  these  appeals,  which  sounded  strangely 
from  the  mouth  of  the  Sovereign  whose  word  was 
law,  even  in  the  fanatical  city,  Sir  Charles  adroitly 
turned  the  conversation  to  the  subject  of  the  treaty. 
The  Sultan  at  once  said,  with  apparent  frankness 
and  show  of  emotion,  "  I  will  sign  the  treaty  as 
you  write  it.     I  had  intended  to  sign  the  treaty  at  all 


104  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

hazards  just  as  you  presented  it  to  me,  which  is,  I 
know,  as  advantageous  to  Morocco  as  it  is  to  the 
interests  of  your  country.  After  the  affronts  which 
my  unhappy  people  have  heaped  upon  your  Mission 
this  afternoon,  what  can  I  do  to  atone  for  it  ?  "  Sir 
Charles  then  demanded  the  punishment  of  Bushta-el- 
Bagdadi,  the  Bashaw  of  Fez,  the  imprisonment  of  the 
second  Governor,  and  the  flogging  of  the  various 
soldiers  who  had  made  themselves  particularl}'  ob- 
noxious in  their  threats  to  members  of  the  Mission. 
The  Sultan  fined  the  Governor,  Bushta-el-Bagdadi, 
2COo/.  for  his  aiding  and  abetting  of  the  riotous 
demonstration,  and  ordered  this  sum  of  money  to 
be  delivered  at  the  British  Mission  on  the  next 
morning,  to  be  disposed  of  as  Sir  Charles  saw  fit. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  interview  the  Sultan  again 
endeavoured  to  detain  the  British  Minister  in  the 
Palace,  and  even  went  so  far  as  to  commit  a  great 
breach  of  Moorish  etiquette  by  accompanying  him 
almost  to  the  door  of  the  Palace.  The  last  words 
exchanged  between  the  Sultan  and  the  British 
Minister  were  in  regard  to  the  treaty.  "  I  have  told 
you,"  said  the  Sultan,  "  that  I  will  sign  the  treaty  as 
you  have  presented  it  to  me.  You  ha\e  behaved  in 
such  a  magnanimous  manner  in  setting  this  local  and 
unhappy  demonstration  against  your  Mission  that 
I  feel  inclined  to  place  myself  under  still  another 
obligation  to  )oii.  As  you  know,  I  only  conceded  in 
princij)le  the  exportation  of  wheat  in  my  treaty  with 
Count  Taltcnbach,  the  German  Minister,  last  year. 
.Since  making  this  great  concession  we  have  not  had 
time  to  sec  what  a  drain  the  exportation  of  wheat  on 


THE   BRITISH  MISSION    TO   FEZ.  1 05 

the  Empire  really  is,  and  I  ask  you,  in  the  name  of 
my  people^  that  }'ou  will  waive  the  demand  }-ou  have 
made  for  a  reduction  of  the  export  duty  on  wheat. 
Should  a  great  demand  on  our  wheat  be  made  by 
foreign  countries,  favoured  by  a  small  duty,  Morocco 
would  be  exposed  to  famine,  which,  owing  to  the 
primitive  and  slow  methods  of  communication 
between  my  different  states,  would  be  a  terrible 
calamity/' 

Sir  Charles,  moved  by  this  appeal,  stated  that  he 
would  waive  his  demand  in  regard  to  the  reduction 
of  duty  on  wheat,  and  left  the  Palace  with  the  under- 
standing that  the  remaining  twenty-one  paragraphs 
of  his  treaty  were  to  be  signed  within  the  next 
twenty-four  hours. 

We  who  during  the  exciting  days  of  the  Mission  in 
Fez  enjoyed  the  pleasant  sensation  of  each  and  every 
one  of  us  belonging  to  the  same  family,  were  indeed 
a  strange  array  of  Anglo-Saxons  jostled  together  by 
chance  in  this  heathen  city.  We  came  from  every 
quarter  of  the  globe  where  British  brawn  and  British 
brain  have  won  homes  for  the  children  of  "  merrie 
England."  Colonel  Hallam-Parr  first  saw  the  light 
of  the  day,  I  believe,  on  the  banks  of  the  mystic 
Ganges  ;  Captain  Kirkpatrick  was  born  "  where  rolls 
the  mighty  Ottawa  ; "  Reeder  was  the  historic  New 
Zealander,  delighted  to  find  that  as  yet  the  great 
Mother  City  was  not  in  ruins  ;  Winthrop  Chanler, 
a  child  of  the  majestic  Hudson  ;  and  I,  who  came 
from  that  "  sweet  and  wholesome  land  "  that  Captain 
John  Smith  espied  on  the  banks  of  the  James. 
Shakespeare  and  Magna  Charta  were  our  bonds  of 


I06  MOROCCO   AS   IT   /S. 

s>'mpathy,  but  as  the  "  heathen  raved  furiously  with- 
out" we  were  drawn  closer  and  closer  together  in 
admiration  of  the  noble  type  of  womanhood  that 
stood  revealed  before  us. 

As  all  the  world  knows  now,  on  the  evening  of  the 
Ait-el-Kebir,  the  day  of  the  riotous  demonstration 
against  the  Mission,  at  about  six  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon, Sir  Charles  Euan-Smith,  accompanied  by  his 
secretaries,  rode  through  the  town  to  the  Palace,  w^ith 
only  the  very  uncertain  escort  of  the  same  men  who 
throughout  the  day  had  been  exciting  the  ignorant 
and  fanatical  Fazzi  to  make  an  attack  upon  the 
Mission  House.  Lady  Euan  was,  as  ever,  bright, 
cheerful  and  gracious,  though  the  memory  of  Manipur 
was  uppermost  in  every  mind.  Hour  dragged  on 
slowly  after  hour,  and  still  no  word  from  the  Palace, 
no  sign  of  the  return  of  the  Mission.  At  eight  o'clock 
dinner  was  served  as  usual  ;  a  mere  Moorish  riot  was 
not  permitted  to  postpone  or  interfere  with  that 
.serious  English  function.  At  nine  o'clock  the  dessert, 
and  still  no  news  from  the  Palace  ;  at  ten,  coffee  and 
cigars.  Still  no  news  from  the  Palace — still  no  sign 
of  his  Excellency's  return.  As  we  bit  at  them 
savagely,  the  cigars  seemed  to  have  a  bitter  taste, 
and  the  sedative  powder  of  the  nicotine  was  gone. 
It  was  after  ten,  and  still  no  news.  The  memory  of 
Manipur  possessed  our  souls,  and  conversation  died 
away. 

Suddenly  we  heard  the  trampling  of  a  largo  caval- 
cade approaching  in  the  distance.  We  paiil  very 
little  attention  to  it.  Squadrons  of  cavalry  and  large 
bodies  of  Pcrbers   were   passing  the   Mission  House 


c 

1) 

c 


U 


72 

1) 


1) 


lOS  MOROCCO   AS   IT   IS. 

every  minute.  But  on  liearing  the  sound,  which  to 
us  had  no  meaning,  there  rolled  away  the  mist  of 
anxiety  and  dread  apprehension  which  for  the  past 
hour  had  been  gathering  in  the  eyes  of  our  hostess. 
"  That  is  Sir  Charles  returning,"  said  Lady  Euan, 
gaily;  "I  recognize  the  tramp  of  his  horse,  and  now 
I  hear  his  voice."  We,  who  were  all  incredulous, 
tried  to  enter  into  her  hopeful  spirit.  Fully  five 
minutes  later  the  cavalcade  with  Sir  Charles  at  the 
head  road  into  the  courtyard,  and  we  saw  how  right 
Lady  Euan  had  been — how  a  great  affection  quickens 
the  senses. 

And  Sir  Charles  Euan-Smith  joined  the  dinner 
party^  with  the  appetite  of  a  man  who  that  day  had 
given  the  Sultan  of  Morocco  a  revelation  of  English 
courage  which,  I  venture  to  predict,  it  will  not  be 
necessary  to  repeat  fur  some  years  to  come. 

Though  Lady  Euan-Smith,  after  the  recent  events 
in  Fez,  may  no  longer  hope  to  escape  history,  she  is 
in  every  sense  of  the  word  a  vcr\-  happy  woman, 
happy  in  husband,  happy  in  her  daughter,  happy  in 
all  things  save  the  accident  of  her  present  unworthy 
historian — a  better  ciualified  pen  than  mine  has  told 
the  world  of  Lady  I'^uan's  antecedents.  We  who 
were  bidden  to  her  table  in  far-off  Fez  only  knew 
that  she  was  a  gracious  hostess,  and  a  scion  of  a 
soldier  line — "where  all  the  sons  were  brave  and  all 
the  daughters  virtuous." 

I  cannot  close  this  ch.ipter  without  paying  my 
tribute  of  admiration  to  the  courage  and  sang-froid 
of  the  ICn^^lish  ladies  with  the  Mission.  At  six 
o'clock  on  the  afternoon  of  July  5th,  when  the  hostile 


THE   BRITISH  MISSION    TO   FEZ.  lOQ 

demonstration  was  at  its  height,  when  Bushta-el- 
Bagdadi  and  his  divan  fondly  flattered  themselves 
that  the  British  Minister  was  trembling  in  his  shoes, 
and  that  his  followers  were  only  too  anxious  to  leave 
the  Holy  city,  Lady  Euan-Smith  could  have  been 
seen  placidly  photographing  the  "  angry  knots  of 
rioters  "  outside  and  inside  the  Mission  garden,  and 
her  niece  was  making  a  formal  application  to  Sir 
Charles  that  in  case  the  Mission  was  attacked  she 
should  be  allotted  a  repeating  rifle. 

It  was  at  this  juncture  that  El  Arbi  ben  el  Moghter, 
the  War  Minister,  rushed  into  the  Mission  with  Sid 
Gharnet  and  the  other  viziers,  and  he  thus  obtained 
a  panoramic  view  of  the  peace  and  quiet  and  per- 
fect composure  that  reign  throughout  the  Mission, 
and  apparently  in  the  minds  of  all  its  members. 
Though  doubtless  depressed  at  the  failure  of  the 
hostile  demonstration  at  which  he  had  undeniably 
connived,  the  old  warrior  could  not  help  saying,  in 
admiration,  beginning  with  his  usual  expletive 
"  Allah,  burn  the  devil  !  What  soldiers  these  English- 
women make  !  " 


CHAPTER   VII. 

THE   BRITISH   MISSION   TO   FEZ~{Co)ttt)liied). 

Bushta-elBagdadi's  Mission  to  Italy  —  The  reward  of  the 
swift  Rekkas  —  The  Bashaw's  humiliation  —  The  pay- 
ment of  the  ten  thousand  dollar  fine  —  The  Bashaw's 
slaves  who  instigated  the  riot  "eat  stick'' — The  Bashaw 
calls  the  Son  of  Scotia  "  his  beloved  one  " — The  Sultan 
returns  the  baggage-train — The  Bashaw  and  his  friends 
intimidate  the  Sultan — They  do  not  appear  at  his  New 
Year's  reception  — Fearing  a  conspiracy  in  the  Court,  the 
Sultan  refuses  to  sign  the  treaty — French  influence 
and  the  news  of  Lord  Salisbury's  defeat  at  the  polls — 
Sir  Charles  tears  up  the  bogus  treaty— The  Pickwickian 
bribe  of  30,000/. — The  Mission  leaves  Fez — Myself,  Euan- 
Smith,  and  the  Times — Light  thrown  on  the  Morocco 
"  Mystery." 

Ir  will  prove,  I  think,  interesting  and  useful  in  view 
of  .sub.sequent  events,  to  speak  more  fully  in  re- 
gard to  the  beginning  of  the  unpleasantness  between 
the  British  Envoy  and  the  Bashaw  of  Fez,  Bushta-el- 
Bagdadi.  This  fanatical  and  bigoted  Moor  first 
showed  his  hostility  to  the  British  Minister  by  osten- 
tatiously absenting  himself  from  the  reception  cere- 
monies upon  the  arrival  of  Sir  Charles  and  the 
Mission  at  Fez  early  in  June,  and  he  added  insult  to 
this  breach  of  etiquette  by  ostentatiously  riding  past 
the  Mission  House  on  the  very  day  of  the  arrival  of 
the  Mission  in  order  to  show  that  he  was  in  excellent 


Sir  Charles  tears  up  the  bogus  Treaty. 
From  "  The  Illustrated  London  Neius,"  l>y  permission. 


112  MOROCCO  AS   IT   /S. 

health,  and  could,  had  he  so  desired,  have  ridden  out 
and  received  Sir  Charles,  as  etiquette  and  custom 
requires  of  the  Governor  of  Fez.  Bushta-el-Bagdadi 
is  an  old  cmhagni,  or  Shcrcefian  soldier,  who  can 
neither  read  nor  write.  Bigoted,  ignorant,  and  fana- 
tical, and  a  typical  member  of  that  class  of  his  sub- 
jects from  whom  the  Sultan  invariably  recruits  his 
high  officials,  for  the  indispensable  and  only  qualifi- 
cation for  exalted  office  under  the  regime  of  Mulei 
Hassan,  is  undying  and  unshakeable  hatred  to  the 
Christian.  This  quality  Bagdadi  possesses  in  a  large 
measure. 

Some  years  ago  Bushta  was  sent  on  a  mission  as 
l\Iinister  Plenipotentiary  to  Italy,  and  at  the  Ouirinal 
enjoyed  the  great  honour  of  escorting  Queen  Mar- 
gherita  into  dinner,  but  he  returned  to  Africa  with 
views  and  ideas  of  the  Christian  world  apparently 
more  limited  even  than  before.  I  cannot  here  for- 
bear from  telling  an  anecdote  which  stamps  the  man, 
and  gives  one  some  idea  of  the  mental  calibre  of  one 
of  the  most  powerful  and  influential  officials  of  the 
Moorish  Empire.  When  Bushta  arrived  in  Tangier 
and  was  preparing  to  embark  for  Italy,  it  was  noticed 
that  among  his  baggage  was  a  large  quantity  of 
swarrces  or  straw  paniers,  with  which  camels  are 
loaded  in  Morocco.  It  was  pointed  out  to  him  how 
useless  these  were,  and  he  was  informed  that  in  Italy 
there  were  no  camels,  and  that  Ministers  travelled 
on  railways.  Bushta,  however,  replied  that  it  would 
be  the  duly  of  the  King  of  Italy  to  procure  camels 
for  him,  as  he  and  all  men  of  his  high  rank  were  ac- 
customed tu  travel  on  camels.     This  story  is  historic. 


THE  BRITISH  MISSION  TO  FEZ.  II3 

I  do  not  know  what  the  sequel  was,  or  how  the  old 
Governor's  desire  for  camels  was  met  on  his  arrival 
in  Italy. 

Sir  Charles  Euan-Smith  treated  with  the  contempt 
it  merited  the  insult  the  Governor  offered  in  absenting 
himself  from  the  reception  ceremonies.  Early  in 
June,  however,  the  Governor's  hostility  to  the  British 
Mission  passed  from  the  negative  to  the  positive 
and  active  stage.  One  evening  he  called  at  the 
Mission  House,  interrupting  a  dinner  party,  and 
insisted  upon  seeing  the  Minister.  Sir  Charles  con- 
sented to  receive  him,  and  Bushta  then  stated  to 
the  Minister  that  his  life  was  in  danger,  that  the 
Mission  was  to  be  attacked  that  night,  and  strongly 
advised  that  they  should  be  moved  immediately  out 
of  the  house  and  camp  outside  the  city.  Sir  Charles 
naturally  resented  this  interruption,  and  sent  him  out 
of  the  house.  In  a  very  few  days  the  Basha  took 
the  opportunity  of  showing  that  his  enmity  to  the 
Minister  and  all  connected  with  him  was  unabated. 

On  the  loth  of  June  the  British  Minister  sent  from 
Fez  a  most  important  despatch  to  Tangier  to  be 
immediately  wired  to  the  Foreign  Office.  A  rekkas, 
or  native  courier,  v/as  found,  named  Mukta,  to  whom 
this  despatch  was  entrusted.  The  runner  succeeded 
in  reaching  Tangier  in  two  days  and  a  half,  waited 
there  ten  hours,  while  his  message  was  wired  to  Lon- 
don and  a  reply  was  received  from  Downing-street, 
and  then  immediately  started  back  to  Fez,  reaching 
there  on  the  evening  of  the  sixth  day  after  his  depar- 
ture ;  an  exploit  which  had  never  been  accomplished 
before   and  was  naturally  much  talked  about  in  Fez 

I 


114  MOROCCO  AS   IT  IS. 

among  the  Moors,  who  have  a  great  admiration  for 
athletic  prowess.  The  news  reached  the  ears  of  the 
Governor,  who  sent  for  Mukta  and  spoke  to  him  in 
this  wise  :  "  So  I  hear  you  rival  the  speed  of  the  wind 
in  carrj-ing  despatches  for  the  English  Bashador,  and 
I  suppose  he  has  rewarded  you  richly."  The  carrier 
stated  that  Sir  Charles  had  been  very  generous.  "  I 
also  will  not  be  behind  the  British  Minister  in  gene- 
rosity," said  the  Bashaw,  "  and  you  have  run  so  well 
that  you  will  never  run  again."  He  then  had  the  man 
manacled  in  his  presence  and  carried  to  the  prison. 
Friends  of  Mukta,  the  rekkas,  directly  went  to  Sir 
Charles  and  told  him  the  story.  He  immediately 
demanded  and  obtained  of  the  Sultan  the  man's 
instant  release,  and,  to  avert  any  danger  of  his  life  or 
liberty  after  the  Mission  had  departed,  he  made  him 
a  British  protected  citizen  for  life.  So  again  the 
Governor  was  discomfited.  Some  days  later,  in  one 
of  the  interviews  in  regard  to  the  Commercial  Treaty, 
the  Sultan  asked  Sir  Charles  if  he  would  forgive  the 
Basha.  Sir  Charles  stated  that  he  did  not  bear 
malice,  and  if  the  Bashaw  satisfied  him  with  proper 
apologies,  he  would  forgive  him. 

On  June  22nd  the  Bashaw  called  at  the  Mission, 
expressed  his  regret  for  his  attitude,  and  Sir  Charles 
shook  hands  with  him.  Ihnv  much  the  incorrigible 
old  heathen  took  the  lesson  to  heart  is  shown  by  his 
behaviour  on  the  day  o(  the  grtat  Moorish  feast, 
July  5th. 

No  one  m^rc  enjoyed  the  humiliation  of  their 
Bashaw  in  the  f^arden  (jf  the  British  Mission  on  July 
6th   than  did    tlu-   inhabitants    of   !*"(/,  who    availed 


THE   BRITISH  MISSION    TO   FEZ.  I  I  5 

themselves  of  the  British  Envoy's  permission^  and 
thronged  the  courtyard  in  great  numbers  to  see  the 
greedy,  avaricious,  and  rapacious  Governor  humiliated 
in  the  dust.  Acting  under  the  Sultan's  imperative 
orders,  the  Bashaw  appeared  about  seven  in  the  morn- 
ing before  the  Mission  House,  He  came  as  a  sup- 
pliant, on  foot  and  unattended  by  any  of  his  usual 
suite.  He  sat  down  in  the  garden  of  the  Mission 
on  the  ground,  under  a  pomegranate  tree,  and  there 
for  three  hours,  in  the  broiling  sun  and  in  a  humour  I 
can  only  describe  with  the  poet  of  "  Chevy  Chase  "  as 
"  most  doleful  dumps,"  awaited  the  Minister's  plea- 
sure. One  by  one  the  slaves  brought  up  from  his 
palace  mules  laden  with  the  heavy  bags  of  silver 
pardon  money  to  be  distributed  to  the  poor  of  Fez, 
as  Sir  Charles  ordered — the  poor  whom  Bushta  had 
so  often  robbed  and  outraged  during  his  long 
years  of  office.  As  each  bag  of  his  ill-gotten  gains 
was  thrown  out  and  rang  on  the  beautifully  tiled  floor- 
ing of  the  courtyard  the  Bashaw  heaved  a  sigh  that 
was  calculated  to  evoke  sympathetic  tears  from  the 
coldest  stones.  At  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning  Sir 
Charles  came  out  on  the  terrace  and  motioned  to 
the  Bashaw  that  he  might  approach.  This  he  did, 
and  as  he  approached  the  Minister  he  still  had 
the  temerity  to  endeavour  to  shake  him  by  the 
hand.  Sir  Charles  indignantly  waved  him  back, 
and  then  read  him  a  lecture  such  as  it  has  never 
been  my  pleasure  heretofore  to  hear,  even  in  our 
good  old  Anglo-Saxon  tongue,  and  I  was  pleased  to 
notice  that  owing  to  the  painstaking  and  graphic 
interpretation   of  Mr.  E.   Carleton,  dragoman  of  the 

I    2 


I  1 6  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

Mission,  the  oii£,M'nal  vigour  and  the  force  of  the 
British  Minister's  language  lost  none  of  its  power 
when  translated  into  the  guttural  Arabic  of  the  West. 
As  misdeed  after  misdeed  was  dragged  out  from  the 
capacious  closets  of  the  British  Minister's  memory, 
the  Bashaw's  form  drooped  and  bent  forward  until  at 
the  conclusion  of  the  lecture  he  sank  forward  to  the 
ground. 

It  does  not  seem  necessary  in  view  of  the  subsequent 
more  important  events  to  dwell  upon  the  scenes 
which  attended  the  distribution  of  the  pardon  money 
among  the  solders,  servants,  and  attendants  who  had 
been  struck  or  insulted  during  the  riotous  demon- 
stration, or  the  scenes  still  more  interesting  which 
attended  the  distribution  of  the  money  to  the  poor, 
the  lame,  the  halt,  and  the  blind  of  the  City  of  Fez, 
who  for  the  next  few  days  thronged  about  the 
Mission  and  made  both  night  and  day  hideous  with 
their  loud  prayers  and  boisterous  wishes  for  the  long 
life  anti  happiness  of  Sir  Charles  and  Lady  Euan- 
Smith,  though  these  scenes  were  indeed  highly 
interesting  and  full  of  wild  barbaric  colour. 

Having  again  expressed  his  regret  for  the  occur- 
rences and  disclaimed  any  responsibility  for  or 
particii)alion  in  the  riotous  demonstration  before  the 
Mission  House  on  the  preceding  day,  the  Bashaw 
severally  apologized  to  Mr.  Vismes  de  Ponthicu,  the 
First  Secretary,  ami  to  Mr.  I'crnau,  the  drago- 
man of  the  Mission — and  while  four  of  his  "confi- 
dential "  slaves  and  soldiers  were  dispatched  to  the 
Palace  to  "  eat  stick  "  for  their  encouraging  attitude 
towards  the    rioters,  the    Bashaw,  humiliated  in  the 


THE   BRITISH  MISSION    TO   FEZ.  I  I  / 

sight  of  his  own  people  and  in  the  very  dust  before 
the  people  of  the  city  he  had  ruled  with  a  rod  of  iron, 
was  sent  down  into  the  Medinah  to  apologize  to  Mr. 
Macleod,  the  Vice-Consul.  The  Bashaw  would  have 
greatly  prefered  to  '^  eat  stick  "  like  his  slaves^  or  to  go 
to  prison  loaded  with  chains  like  his  Kahlifa,  so  very 
strong  was  his  hatred  to  Macleod.  But  the  Bashador 
was  inexorable,  and  down  he  trudged  the  road  to  the 
Medinah;  an  easy  gentle  decline,  but  to  him  as  steep 
as  any  Calvary. 

The  Swani  men  had  already  carried  to  the  Vice- 
Consulate  one  thousand  shining  Spanish  dollars, 
which  the  Bashador  had  awarded  the  Vice-Consul 
out  of  the  Bashaw's  fine,  as  an  indemnity  for  the 
dangers  he  had  run  on  the  preceding  day,  and  for 
the  indignities  he  had  suffered  from  the  hands  of 
Bagdadi  during  his  two  years'  residence  in  Fez.  The 
glittering  coin  was  spread  out  on  the  table  of  Mr. 
Macleod's  office,  and  being  counted,  when  the 
tottering  form  and  perspiring  face  of  the  Bashaw 
appeared  in  the  doorway  of  the  Vice-Consulate. 
Seeing  his  pertinacious  enemy  in  such  a  woeful 
plight,  the  Scotchman  behaved  with  admirable 
generosity.  He  ordered  tea,  and  for  the  first  time 
that  day  the  Bashaw  took  nourishment. 

The  sturdy  old  soldier  almost  immediately  re- 
gained his  aplomb,  and  smiled  benignly  upon  the 
man  who  for  the  past  two  years  he  had  subjected  to 
a  hundred  and  one  petty  annoyances  in  the  hope  of 
driving  him  away  from  Fez. 

"  I  wonder  how  the  Bashador  could  have  said  in 
his  speech  this  morning,"  began  Bushta,  "  that  I  had 


I  I  8  MOROCCO   AS    IT  IS. 

treated  thee  with  unkindness  ever  since  thou  didst 
come  to  the  Holy  City.  Bad  men — men  with  forked 
tong^ues — must  have  abused  his  confidence.  I  know.  O 
Son  of  Scotia,  that  thou  didst  not  pour  these  slanders 
into  his  ears.  I  know  thou  art  a  man  of  one  speech. 
But  how  could  the  mistake  have  arisen  ?  All  the 
people  of  Fez  know  the  affection  and  the  esteem  in 
which  I  hold  thee.  They  can  testify  that  I  have 
cherished  thee  as  the  apple  of  my  eye,  that  thou  art 
my  liabecb}\  my  beloved  one." 

It  was  magnificent  acting,  but  not  the  truth. 
Finishing  his  cup  of  tea,  and  saying,  "  O  Son  of 
Scotia,  let  the  true  God  pardon  between  us  two,"  he 
took  his  leave.  Clasping  the  hand  of  his  forgiving 
enemy,  the  Bashaw  said  :  "  Great  as  our  affection  has 
been  in  the  past,  it  will  seem  as  nothing  to  the  offices 
of  friendship  that  I  will  shower  upon  thee  in  the 
future."  This  cleverly  concealed  threat  would  have 
troubled  the  spirit  of  any  one  less  sturdy  and  self- 
reliant  than  the  liritish  Vice-Consul. 

I  have  neglected  to  say  that  at  the  interview  with 
the  Sultan  on  July  6th  the  British  Fnvoy  demanded 
explanations  of  the  removal  of  ail  the  animals  and 
pack-horses  from  the  Mission  House.  The  Sultan 
feigned  complete  ignorance  of  the  occurrence,  and 
expressed  his  regret  that  the  members  of  the  Mission 
had  been  so  inconvenienced.  The  British  Envoy 
then  told  the  Sultan  unless  the  am'mals  were  restored 
to  him  that  evening,  he  would  despatch  Mr.  IC. 
C!arleton,  third  dragoman  to  the  Mission,  whose 
knowledge  of  the  country  and  thorough  mastery  of 
Moorish   made  him   peculiarly  fitted    fir  the  task,  to 


Beggars  at  entrance  of  British  Mission. 
From  the  "Illustrated  London  Nezvs,"  by  permission. 


120  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

ride  to  the  coast  with  a  requisition  upon  Sir  Lothian 
Nicholson,  tlie  Governor  of  Gibraltar,  for  an  armed 
escort  and  a  baggage  train  to  tran=;port  the  Mission 
to  the  coast.  Seeing  into  what  dangerous  waters 
his  treacherous  diplomacy  had  brought  him,  the 
Sultan  towards  midnight  returned  the  horses  and 
mules  to  the  Legation  stables. 

I  am  of  the  opinion  that  when  the  Sultan 
stated  on  July  5th  to  the  l^ritish  Envoy  he  was 
prepared  to  sign  the  treaty  without  delay,  he  fully 
meant  what  he  said,  and  intended  to  do  so  ;  but, 
immediately  after  the  punishment  of  Bushta-el- 
Bagdadi,  and  perhaps  owing  in  a  very  great  degree 
to  the  severity  of  that  punishment,  the  tide  of 
fanatical  feeling  in  Fez  began  to  rise,  and  became  so 
strong  that  the  Sultan  paused  in  his  fright,  and  failed, 
because  he  was  unable,  to  complj'  with  his  given 
word.  The  manner  in  which  the  Sultan  receded 
from  his  position  is  distinctly  Moorish.  He  evidently 
wanted  to  satisfy  everybody  concerned.  It  was  not 
for  want  (jf  good-will  certainly  that  he  failed  to 
satisfy  anybody.  Powerful  men  like  ]Uishta-el- 
Hagdadi  were  threatening  rebellion,  and  went  so  far 
even  as  to  absent  themselves  from  the  fcle  of  the 
Hydia  that  was  then  in  progress.  The  II)dia  is  a 
reception  lasting  for  seven  days  after  the  New  Year's 
feast.  On  the  afternoons  of  these  da\'s  the  Sultan 
receives  deputations  from  all  over  the  countr>'  in  the 
Meshwa,  or  I'lacc  of  Audit-nce,  surrounded  by  his 
C(jurt.  Here  the  produce  of  the  fields  and  the  fruits 
of  the  earth  are  presented  in  the  presence  of  a  vast 
concourse  of  people.     The  more  valuable  presents  or 


THE   BRITISH  MISSION    TO   FEZ.  121 

bribes  of  gold  and  silver  are  given  to  him  and 
to  his  Viziers  in  a  less  public  manner.  One 
by  one  the  notables  of  Fez  and  the  leaders  of 
the  Berber  deputations  passed  before  the  Sultan, 
prostrating  their  proud  heads  in  the  dust  at  his  feet, 
and  crying  out  "  Allah-i-bark-Ameer-Seedna — God 
prolong  the  days  of  our  Lord."  The  Sultan  was 
very  much  displeased,  and  very  much  disquieted  to 
find  that  Bagdadi  failed  to  appear  in  the  procession, 
and  thatj  as  the  days  went  on  and  on,  he  neither 
sent  an  excuse  or  a  present :  and  as  many  of  his 
friends — equally  important  men — were  also  notably 
absent  from  the  functions,  the  Sultan  became  really 
alarmed  and  fearful  of  a  revolution  in  Fez  itself, 
which  has  never  been  well  affected  towards  him. 

The  French  emissaries  did  not  fail  to  avail  them- 
selves of  this  opportunity  of  thwarting  the  British  En- 
voy in  his  attempt  to  open  up  the  closed  market  of 
Morocco  to  the  commerce  of  the  world.  On  the  8th  of 
July  the  Sultan  was  informed  that  if  he  granted  the 
commercial  concessions,  France  would  reconsider  her 
attitude  in  the  Touat  question.  The  day  before  this 
t4ie  Sultan  was  informed  of  the  general  result  of  the 
English  Parliamentary  elections,  and  he  was  aware 
that  Mr.  Gladstone  was  likely  to  succeed  Lord 
.Salisbury  as  Prime  Minister  and  in  the  general  direc- 
tion of  foreign  affairs.  The  French  emissaries  rang 
the  changes  on  this  probable  transfer  of  power,  and, 
unfortunately,  there  was  not  one  of  the  viziers  suffi- 
ciently well  informed  to  know  that  in  the  British 
Foreign  Office  there  is  such  a  thing  as  continuity  of 
policy  above  party  life  and  struggles.     The  Sultan's 


122  MOROCCO   AS    IT  IS. 


French  advisers,  who  do  not  seem  to  have  been 
hampered  by  conscientious  scruples  of  any  kind,  told 
the  Sultan  that  when  Lord  Salisbury  went  out  of 
office  Sir  Charles  Euan-Smith  would  undoubtedly  be 
removed  from  his  post.  They  strengthened  this  by 
stating  that  the  British  Envoy  was  a  family  connec- 
tion of  the  English  Premier's,  and  that  on  that 
account,  if  on  no  other,  Mr.  Gladstone  would  remove 
him  from  his  post  in  Morocco.  It  was  only  on  the 
morning  of  the  7th  of  July  that  it  became  apparent 
that  the  Sultan  did  not  intend  to  sign  the  treaty,  as 
he  had  solemnly  pledged  himself  to  do  before  the 
Grand  Vizier  and  in  the  presence  of  the  members  of 
the  Mission  at  the  historic  interview  of  July  5th. 
It  had  seemed  desirable  to  submit  the  treaty  drafts 
for  signature  on  July  Cth,  but  the  copyists  emulated 
the  speed  of  the  tortoise  in  their  labours,  and  the 
Commissioners  under  whf.se  supervision  the  copying 
was  done  were  always  endeavouring  to  insert  a  word 
here,  or  to  omit  a  word  there,  amendments  to  the 
treaty  which,  though  apparently  always  quite  trivial, 
on  investigation  invariabl)'  proved  to  be  of  vital  im- 
portance. Sid  Gharnet,  the  Grand  Vizier,  spent  his 
days  and  his  nights  at  the  Mission  House.  No  one 
could  have  gathered  from  his  suave  smile,  his  gentle, 
pleading  manner — pleading  for  time,  I  mean,  and  for 
the  pardon  of  the  sluggish  copyists — that  his  instruc- 
tions at  the  time  probably  were  not  to  sign  a  treaty 
under  any  circumstances  whatever.  On  the  8th  of  July 
the  Sultan  sent  to  inform  the  Minister  that  he  wished 
to  cancel  certain  privileges  which  the  treaty  accorded 
to  imports.     Sir  Charles   hiuan-Smith  reminded   the 


THE   BRITISH  MISSION    TO   FEZ.  123 

Sultan  of  the  promise  he  had  given  him  on  the  5th,  and 
begged  him  to  withdraw  his  request.  On  the  evening 
of  the  9th  Sid  Gharnet  appeared  in  the  Mission  House 
with  a  treaty,  which  he  said — and  the  lamb-like  Vizier 
had  now  suddenly  become  very  bold  and  lion-like — 
was  the  only  one  that  the  Sultan  would  sign.  It  was 
a  treaty  that  granted  no  concessions  to  English  com- 
merce whatever,  and  would  have  prevented — if  signed 
— any  further  attempt  being  made  to  open  up  the 
country  to  civilization  and  to  progress  for  at  least 
five  years  to  come.  There  is  very  strong  reason  to 
believe  that  the  Prime  Minister  had  been  instructed 
to  endeavour  to  obtain  Sir  Charles  Euan-Smith's 
signature  to  this  treaty,  first,  in  the  belief  that,  owing 
to  the  Envoy's  ignorance  of  Mogrebbin  Arabic,  he 
would  not  notice  that  another  treaty  had  been  substi- 
tuted. But  in  case  that  Sir  Charles  should  perceive  the 
substitution,  and  ask  Sid  Gharnet  for  an  explanation, 
both  of  which  he  did,  the  Vizier  should  set  to  work 
in  another  manner.  He  should  state  that  this  was 
the  only  treaty  his  master  would  sign,  and  that 
he  had  been  instructed  by  the  Sultan  to  pay  Sir 
Charles  the  sum  of  30,000/.  in  cash  if  he  would 
accept  and  sign  the  useless  treaty. 

Sir  Charles  tore  up  the  bogus  document  into  half  a 
dozen  pieces,  and  the  trembling  Vizier  left  the  Mission 
House,  the  hospitality  of  which  he  had  abused.  Sir 
Charles  then  addressed  a  formal  letter  to  the  Sultan 
announcing  his  intention  of  immediately  leaving  the 
capital,  and  stating  in  detail  the  reasons  which  had 
led  him  to  this  decision.  On  the  12th  the  camp  was 
raised,   and    the    Sultan  received  the  Envoy   at   his 


124  MOROCCO  AS   IT  IS. 

Palace  in  a  formal  audience  of  farewell.  In  referring 
to  the  treaty  he  said  he  hoped  that  all  difficulties 
would  }'et  be  removed. 

He  would  consent  to  the  treaty,  he  said,  if  Sir 
Charles  would  only  <^\wq  way  on  the  matter  of  the 
export  of  flour.  The  British  Envoy  having  agreed  to 
make  this  concession,  the  Sultan  expressed  his  thanks, 
but  observed  that  there  were  still  some  sixteen  or 
seventeen  modifications  that  he  was  desirous  of  intro- 
ducing into  the  draft  treaty.  Sir  Charles  then  imme- 
diately withdrew  from  the  audience  chamber,  and  set 
out  on  his  return  journey  from  Fez  to  Rabat.  On 
the  I3t]i  instant  the  Mission  was  overtaken  when 
about  forty  miles  from  Fez,  by  two  High  Com- 
missioners whom  the  Sultan  had  sent  after  Sir 
Charles  with  full  powers  to  settle  and  sign  the  treaty. 
A  fresh  copy  of  it  was  immediately  prepared  for 
signature,  and  presented  to  them,  but  the  Com- 
missioners then  insisted  that,  though  merely  as  a 
matter  of  form,  the  treaty  must  be  once  more  laid 
before  the  Sultan.  They  said  thc)'  would  return  to 
Fez,  and  that,  as  they  had  swift  horses,  they  would 
rejoin  thc  Mission  in  the  course  of  si.K  hours. 

They  disappeared,  and  did  not  return  until  mid- 
night of  thc  ne.xt  day.  They  brought  a  message 
from  the  Sultan  that  he  wished  to  make  further 
changes  in  the  treaty.  Sir  Charles  Kuan-Smith 
declined  to  enter  into  any  further  discussion  of  thc 
subject,  and  raised  the  camp  the  following  day,  con- 
tinuing the  march  to  Rabat.  Since  then,  I  believe, 
he  has  had  no  further  coininunication  with  the 
Moorish  Government. 


THE   BRITISH  MISSION   TO  FEZ.  125 

I  have  been  somewhat  amused  to  see  that  the 
Sultan's  gorgeous  "  bribe"  of  30,000/.  has  been  taken 
seriously  by  some  of  the  English  newspapers.  Of 
course  the  offer  was  never  meant  seriously  for  a 
moment.  It  was  merely  an  indication  of  the  high 
esteem  in  which  the  Sultan  held  Sir  Charles,  and  of 
the  fictitious  value  he  placed  on  his  services.  The 
bribe  was  meant  entirely  in  a  Pickwickian  sense, 
and  I  very  much  doubt  whether  the  Sultan  has 
any  such  sum  of  money  at  his  disposal  outside  of 
his  custom-house  receipts,  which  are  certainly  mort- 
gaged for  some  years  to  come  at  least.  While  bills 
of  exchange  are  known  to  the  Moorish  authorities  in 
the  coast  towns,  payments  are  made  in  Fez  only 
with  meskals  of  copper,  and  my  head  grows  dizzy  as 
I  endeavour  to  enumerate  how  many  donkeys  it 
would  take  to  carry  30,000/.  sterling  in  the  copper 
coin  of  the  Moorish  realm.  It  would  be  a  difficult 
bribe  to  transport  and  an  impossible  one  to  conceal. 
Roughly  speaking,  I  should  say  that  a  line  of  don- 
keys stretching  from  the  city  of  Morocco  to  Tangier 
might  carr}'  it.  Mathematical  enthusiasts  may  wish 
to  work  out  the  problem^  and  can  do  so  on  the  basis 
that  threepence  in  the  impure  Moorish  iloos  weighs 
about  half  a  pound. 

Newspaper  readers  will  recall  that  several  state- 
ments of  fact  which  appear  in  the  foregoing  chapters 
were  vaguely  contradicted  from  official  sources  shortly 
after  their  publication  in  the  columns  of  the  London 
press.  The  source  from  which  these  contradictions 
came  remained  a  secret  for  some  days.  In  writing 
me  about  this  time,  and  thanking  me  for  what  he  was 


126  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

[rood  enough  to  call  the  "  valued  support  "  I  had  given 
his  Mission,  the  English  Envoy  put  me  on  my  guard 
against  several  Tangier  journalists,  who,  as  he  said, 
were  "jealous  of  my  success."  Finally,  on  July  31st, 
1892,  an  alleged  interview  with  Sir  Charles  Euan- 
Smith  appeared  in  the  columns  of  the  Times,  which 
it  was  claimed  "  a  "  correspondent  of  the  Times  had 
had  with  the  British  Minister  to  Morocco,  and  faith- 
fully reported  and  wired  from  Tangier. 

I  immediately  wired  to  Sir  Charles  Euan-Smith 
whether  he  accepted  the  personal  and  official  responsi- 
bility for  the  publication,  or  whether  he  had  in  any 
way  authorized  the  statements  which  reflected  so 
severely  upon  my  correspondence.  I  received  imme- 
diately two  telegrams  from  Sir  Charles  Euan-Smith, 
in  which  he  denied  most  emphatically  having  either  •* 
made  or  inspired  the  criticisms,  and  he  certainly  left 
mc  and  the  world  at  large  under  the  impression  that 
the  interview  had  never  taken  place. 

On  ^\ugust  the  5th,  however,  the  Tunes  published 
a  telegram  from  Sir  Charles  Euan-Smith,  stating 
that  the  interview  published  by  them  was  inaccurate, 
but  that  he  denied  absolutely  having  torn  up  a  draft 
treaty  and  several  other  minor  details  which  had 
appeared  in  my  correspondence.  The  Times  seemed 
hugely  delii^htcd  that  only  a  little  over  two-thirds  of 
the  interview  was  disavoAcd. 

Amusingly  enough,  this  very  statement  as  to  the 
torn  treaty  had  been  published  at  great  length  and 
with  many  picturesque  details  in  the  'Ti>nes  of  July  the 
25th,  from  the  pen  (jf  a  gentleman  whom  I  had  known 
as   the   correspondent  in  Morocco  of  that  i)apcr,  and 


THE   BRITISH  MISSION    TO   FEZ.  12/ 

who  in  that  capacity  was  received  at  the  Shereefian 
Court  during  the  visit  of  the  Mission  to  Fez.     Further- 
more, this  gentleman  favoured  one  of  the  great  illus- 
trated papers  with  a  signed  sketch  of  the  sensational 
incident.  Ignoring  this  fact,  the  T^zWj-,  with  conscious 
virtue,  in  publishing  the  interview  with  Sir  Charles 
Euan-Smith,  stated  that  the  reports  which  they  were 
endeavouring  to  discredit  had  not  appeared   in  their 
columns.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  they  had  appeared  in  the 
Times.     Of  course  they  appeared  some  three  or  four 
days  after  their  publication   in  every  other  London 
paper,  and  the  Times,  to    cover  up  its  discomfiture, 
was   simply    endeavouring    to    mislead    the    public. 
Mais   qa   cest   bien    de  la    niaison.     The    writer    of 
these  pages  visited  Morocco  in  the  winter  of  1891- 
92,   and    it   was   his  intention    to  have  returned   to 
that   country    in  the  early   spring    to    conclude  his 
travels  by  a  journey  to  Fez  ;  and,  with  this  inten- 
tion,   he   had  engaged    a   passage   to    Gibraltar  on 
the   1st  of  April,  but  was  prevented  by  illness  from 
going.      The  writer   sailed    for    Gibraltar   on    June 
2nd,  and   it    was  a    matter  of  great  regret    to    him 
that    the    postponement    of  his    visit    brought   him 
to    Fez    at    the    same   time   as  the    British  Mission, 
He  would  have  greatly  preferred    to  have  seen  the 
Moors  in  their  fanatical  capital  en  neglige,  rather  than 
on  the  alert  and  in  the  dress  parade  they  assumed 
with  the  eyes  of  the  accredited   representatives  of  a 
great  Christian  power  upon  them.     When  the  objects 
of  the   British  Mission   were,  as    I    was  informed   by 
Sir  Charles,   unscrupulously   misrepresented   by  the 
Continental  papers,  Sir  Charles  Euan-Smith  appealed 


128  MOROCCO   AS\IT  IS. 

to  me,  as  a  journalist,  to  see  that  the  truth  regarding 
the  Mission  was  told  and  his  traducers  silenced. 

I  informed  the  British  Minister  that  I  was  no  longer 
connected  with  the  great  American  journal  with 
which,  as  he  said,  he  had  often  heard  my  name  con- 
nected. On  the  day  after  the  demonstration  before 
the  Mission,  Sir  Charles  Euan-Smith  again  appealed 
to  me  to  see  that  the  incident  was  not  allowed  to  be 
garbled  by  French  correspondents  and  editors,  point- 
ing out  to  me  that  the  only  qualified  English  corre- 
spondent accompanying  the  Mission  had  left  Fez 
for  Tangier  some  two  weeks  previously.  Having 
been  hospitably  received  by  the  British  Mission,  and 
having  at  the  time  a  genuine  regard  for  the  British 
Minister,  at  a  considerable  financial  risk,  for  cabling 
from  Morocco  is  expensive,  and  newspapers  very 
properly  reserve  to  themselves  the  right  to  pay  or 
not  to  pay  the  tolls  on  unsolicited  telegrams,  I 
took  up  the  cudgels  on  his  behalf,  and  five  days 
later  my  despatches,  which  were  read  to  several 
members  of  his  staff,  and  the  contents  made  known 
to  Sir  Charles  Euan-Smith  himself,  were  published  in 
London  by  the  Central  Ne^vs^  and  in  Paris  by  the 
New  York  Herald  (Paris  edition),  and  distributed  by 
that  paper  to  every  important  journal  in  France. 
I''ulhcrmore,  I  sketched  out  the  despatch  which  was 
sent  at  the  same  time  to  the  London  7'inies.  The 
gentleman  deputed  t(i  act  as  Times  correspondent 
had  never  enjoyed  any  journalistic  training,  so  I 
think  it  will  be  quite  clear  that  my  interference  in 
the  matter  as  a  journalist  was  neither  unsolicited  nor 
selfish. 


Taking  leave  of  the  Sultan. 
From  the  "Daily  Graphic,"  by  pemiission. 


K 


130  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

On  reaching  London,  after  my  rapid  journey  from 
Fez,  it  did  not  occur  to  me  that  I  should  falsify 
history,  simply  because,  during  the  stay  of  the 
Mission  at  the  Shereefian  Court,  Lord  Salisbury 
had  been  succeeded  by  Mr.  Gladstone  as  Prime 
Minister.  What  I  have  written  is  based  upon  what 
I  saw,  upon  what  I  heard,  and  upon  information 
that  I  gathered  from  creditable  sources  in  Fez.  Un- 
like several  of  the  principal  actors  in  the  incidents,  it 
has  not  struck  me  as  right  or  proper  to  garble  the 
genuine  impressions  I  received  on  the  spot  at  the 
suggestion  of  afterthoughts  not  entirely  unconnected 
with  the  change  of  Ministry  in  England. 

Had  Sir  Charles  Euan-Smith  seen  fit  in  his  official 
despatches  to  have  taken  a  different  view  of  the 
events,  and  to  present  them  in  a  different  form  from 
that  which  I  had  already  at  his  repeated  and  very 
earnest  request  published  to  the  world,  the  public 
would,  I  believe,  have  easily  coincided  the  differences 
in  our  respective  accounts  on  the  ground  that  one  was 
official  and  diplomatic,  and  the  other  unofficial  and 
journalistic,  and  further,  that  my  despatches  were 
written  under  circumstances  hardly  calculated  to  pro- 
mote accuracy  or  nicety  of  expression.  But,  when  Sir 
Charles  Euan-Smith,  the  British  Minister  to  the  Court 
of  Morocco,  saw  fit  to  make  statements  to  the  Times 
correspondent  which  were  calculated  and  evidently 
intended  to  discredit  the  journalist  who  only  at  his 
(Sir  Charles  Euan-Smith's)  often  repeated  request 
had  taken  up  the  pen  on  his  behalf,  he  had  only  to 
expect  the  treatment  at  my  hands  under  which  he  is 
at  present  suffering.     The  only  statement  of  fact  of 


THE   BRITISH  MISSION    TO   FEZ.  I3I 

any  importance  in  my  correspondence  that  was  not 
fully  confirmed  by  the  Parliamentary  paper  con- 
taining the  Morocco  correspondence,  was  the  question 
whether  Sir  Charles  Euan-Smith  tore  up  a  treaty  or 
not.  The  French  Minister  in  London,  like  every- 
body else,  heard  that  he  had  done  so,  and,  several 
days  before  my  despatches  confirming  the  incident 
appeared  in  the  London  papers,  M.  Waddington 
called  on  Lord  Salisbury  at  the  Foreign  Office  (see 
Parliamentary  paper),  and  asked  him  whether  this 
information,  which  he  had  received  from  French 
agents  in  Morocco,  was  confirmed  by  the  official 
English  despatches. 

When  cross-examined  by  Lord  Salisbury  over  the 
wire.  Sir  Charles  Euan-Smith,  in  a  Foreign  Office 
despatch,  dated  Tangier,  July  29,  and  published  in 
the  Parliamentary  paper  on  the  subject,  stated  that 
the  document  he  tore  up  was  not  the  draft  of  a  treaty. 
On  August  the  loth  a  leading  article  appeared  in 
the  Journal  des  Debats,  signed  by  Mr.  John  Lem- 
moine,  the  French  academician,  whose  sources  of 
information  at  the  Quai  d'Orsai  are,  as  is  well  known, 
unexceptional,  which  stated  that  among  other  in- 
accuracies which  Sir  Charles  Euan-Smith's  official 
correspondence  contained,  the  most  notable  was  his 
denial  of  having  torn  up  the  bogus  treaty  that  the 
Grand  Vizier  had  attempted  to  palm  off  upon  him. 
The  article  concluded  with  the  statement  that  Sir 
Charles  Euan-Smith's  official  despatches  would  be 
considerably  filled  out  by  the  correspondence  of 
French  agents  in  Morocco,  shortly  to  appear  in 
the   French  ''  Yellow  book."     I  must  add,  however, 

K   2 


132  MOROCCO  AS   IT  IS. 

that  I  am  not  of  the  opinion  expressed  unani- 
mously by  the  French  papers  that  the  subsequent 
admission  of  Mr.  Lowther,  Under-Secretary  of  State, 
in  the  House  of  Commons,  was  in  any  way 
motived  by  this  thinly  veiled  threat  and  inuendo  ; 
but,  at  the  same  time^  it  is  a  matter  of  history  that, 
on  the  following  day,  in  answer  to  a  question  in  the 
House  of  Commons,  Mr.  Lowther  stated  that  he  was 
informed  by  Sir  Charles  Euan-Smith  that  he  had 
torn  up  a  document  in  the  nature  of  a  draft  treaty, 
but  the  treaty  in  question  was  not  the  treaty  that  the 
Sultan  had  solemnly  promised  to  sign  on  July  the 
5th,  or  very  nearly  verbatim  et  literatim  the  state- 
ment that  I  had  made  six  weeks  previousl)'  in  ni)' 
despatches  from  Morocco. 

So  it  would  appear  that  Sir  Charles  Euan-Smith 
has  gone  on  record  as  having  given  to  the  world  at 
least  three  accounts  of  what  he  did  with  the  bogus 
treaty,  and  that  each  account  categorically  contra- 
dicts the  other  two.  Little  wonder,  then,  that  the 
question  as  to  what  really  did  happen  in  Fez  proved 
a  puzzler  to  the  London  press,  and  that  all  infor- 
mation from  the  seat  of  contradiction  and  counter- 
contradiction,  was,  as  if  by  common  consent,  published 
for  many  days  under  the  rubric,  "  The  Morocco 
Mystery." 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

A   WHITE  SLAVE   IN   MOROCCO. 

The  story  of  a  renegade  Spaniard — How  the  Riff  Highlanders 
convert  Christians  to  Islamisni — A  cruel  ceremony — Broken 
in  health  and  spirits,  Pepe  is  exchanged  for  a  donkey  by  his 
captors — The  incidents  of  three  years' slavery  in  Morocco 
— A  white  man  sold  at  auction  in  Casa  Blanca — His  libera- 
tion. 

The  following  chapter  will  prove  unpleasant  reading 
to  the  misguided  gentlemen  who  monthly  meet  in 
London  to  devise  ways  and  means  of  preventing  the 
aboriginal  races  from  being  swept  off  the  face  of  the 
earth.  It  will  also  give  a  very  clear  idea  of  the  treat- 
ment which  the  Spanish  sailors  captured  off  Cape 
Juby  in  September  of  this  year  may  possibly  receive 
at  the  hands  of  their  pirate  captors.  I  think  also 
that  it  will  go  far  to  upset  the  arguments  of  those 
who  claim  that  the  IMoor  is  not  nearly  so  black  as  he 
is  painted.  The  unfortunate  hero  of  my  story  was 
undoubtedly  a  fugitive  from  justice  ;  but  the  Riff 
mountaineers,  into  whose  hands  he  fell,  knew  abso- 
lutely nothing  of  his  antecedents,  and  would  have 
undoubtedly  treated  in  the  same  way  Mr.  Gladstone 
or  any  other  distinguished  Englishman  who  might 
have  the  misfortune  to  meet  with  shipwreck  on  that 


134  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

dangerous  coast.  His  treatment  may,  therefore,  be 
considered  as  not  exceptional  but  typical.  During 
the  early  part  of  our  stay  in  Fez  I  noticed  on  several 
occasions  a  very  ragged,  dejected-looking  man  crouch- 
ing in  a  corner  of  the  narrow  street  by  the  principal 
fondak  of  the  town  whenever  we  rode  past  it.  Once,  as 
we  rode  by,  he  ran  out  and  kissed  the  feet  of  a  member 
of  our  party,  muttering  something  to  him  which  we 
failed  to  catch.  My  servant  said  that  the  poor  fellow 
spoke  Spanish  ;  but  this  we  did  not  consider  as  at  all 
out  of  the  way,  as  a  very  great  number  of  the  Moors 
can  speak  a  few  words  of  that  language.  We  passed 
him  several  times  again,  and  I  noticed  that  he  always 
scanned  our  features  earnestly,  and  listened  attentively 
to  what  we  said.  Then,  as  he  caught  our  English 
speech,  he  would  turn  his  head  away  wearily,  re- 
assuming  his  listless  attitude.  He  seemed  very  weak 
and  feeble,  and  as  one  worn  out  by  fatigue  and  fc\'cr. 
I  was  struck  by  the  pallor  of  his  complexion,  his 
blue  eyes  and  yellow  hair — not  but  that  I  had  seen 
many  Fazzi  quite  as  blonde  as  he  was — indeed,  the 
darker  Moors  of  the  South  call  the  natives  of  Fez 
Zaari,  or  "  I''air  ones,"  in  contcmj)!  of  their  pallid 
complexion — but  there  was  something  distinctly 
Furopean  about  this  man's  countenance,  though  he 
was  clothed  in  fcctid  Moc^rish  rags.  A  week  later 
we  saw  him  again  lying  in  his  usual  [)osition  by  the 
fondak,  with  the  weary,  hunted  look  upon  his  face 
that  wc  had  already  noticed.  On  catching  sight  of 
us,  with  sudden  unexpected  energy  he  sprang  up  and 
began  to  follow  us.  Wc  slowed  down  our  pace  so 
that  lie  nii;.;ht  catch  uj),  and   he   cpiickly  made  a  sign 


136  MOROCCO  AS  IT  IS. 

to  US  to  go  and  that  he  would  follow.  When  we 
arrived  at  our  garden  he  slipped  into  the  gate,  after 
looking  well  about  him  to  see  that  he  was  un- 
observed. Once  safe  within  our  walls,  he  threw 
himself  sobbing  on  the  ground,  and  burst  out  into  a 
paroxysm  of  hysterical  tears,  from  which  he  did  not 
recover  for  several  hours.  I  shall  not  dwell  on  the 
horrid,  nauseating  details  of  this  poor  wretch's 
story.  I  would  rather  not  have  heard  it  at  all,  for  it 
gave  me  a  lower  opinion  of  the  human  race  than  I 
had  ever  had  before. 

Our  strange  visitor  was  a  young  Spaniard  from 
Almeria.  He  was  about  twenty-four  years  of  age, 
and  his  face  and  manner,  as  he  sat  before  us  and  told 
his  tale,  were  singularly  straiglitforward  and  frank. 
Four  years  ago  he  had  been  sent  by  his  father,  a 
well-to-do  merchant  of  Almeria,  with  money  to  pay 
off  the  labourers  in  a  vineyard  he  owned  on  the  vine- 
clad  hills  outside  of  that  city.  He  paid  the  men  off, 
and,  as  was  the  custom,  sat  down  and  drank  wine 
with  the  labourers.  After  spending  a  half- hour  with 
his  men  in  this  way,  the  young  Spaniard  called  for 
his  horse,  to  ride  back  into  the  city  ;  but  the  men 
refused  to  let  him  go,  remarking  in  drunken  jest  that 
he  was  their  prisoner.  As  he  insisted  upon  leaving 
the  roysterers — half  in  play,  half  in  earnest — one  of 
their  number  caugiit  hold  of  him  to  detain  him. 
Seeing  his  master  thus  attacked,  a  shepherd's  dog 
that  was  the  young  Spaniard's  inseparable  companion, 
s{)rang  up  at  his  master's  assailant,  and  in  a  moment 
with  his  sharp  teeth  had  inflicted  a  mortal  wound, 
by  severing  the  jugular  vein.     The  man  sank  down 


A    WHITE   SLAVE  IN  MOROCCO.  137 

on    the    ground,    covered    with    blood,    and    almost 
immediately  one  of  the  labourer's  companions  shot 
and  killed  the  dog.     The  young  Spaniard,  seeing  his 
favourite  animal  dying  before  his  eyes,  in  a  moment 
of  passion    drew  his    revolver  and    shot   his  slayer. 
The  young   Spaniard,  whom  I  will   call   Pepe,  was 
sentenced    to    ten    years'    imprisonment   with    hard 
labour,  and  sent  to  the  penal  settlement  of  Mellila, 
on  the  Moorish  Coast,  to  serve  his  sentence.     After 
ten  months  of  this  terrible  place,  the  young  Spaniard 
determined  to  make   an  attempt  to  escape,  not  so 
much  in  the  hope  that  he  would  succeed,  but  rather 
trusting  to  be  killed  by  one    of  the  guards  in  the 
attempt.     While  working  with  his  gang,  stone-break- 
ing, out  on  the  narrow  neck  of  land  which  connects 
the   peninsula    of  Mellila  with    the    INIoorish    coast 
watching  his  opportunity,   he  hid  himself  away  in 
some  swampy  underbush  that  grew  in  patches  down 
by  the  sea.     When  night  came  he  succeeded  in  swim- 
ming over  the  narrow  strip  of  water  from  the  penal 
fortress  to  the  mainland.     That   night  and    all  the 
next  day  he  wandered  about  in  the  Riff  Mountains, 
and  on  the  following  evening  he  was  discovered  by 
the  Riff  mountaineers.     They  carried  him  to  their 
village,  and  held  a  council  as  to  what  they  should 
do  with  him.     The  result  of  their  deliberations  was 
made  to  him  on  the  following  morning — provided  he 
became  a  Mahommedan,  they  promised  to  give  him 
food  and  receive  him  in  the  village  as  a  man  and  a 
brother.     If  he  would   not,  they  stated  they  would 
torture   him    to    death.     The    unfortunate  Spaniard 
chose   to  become  a  Moor.     Under   pretence   of  an 


I3S  MOROCCO  AS   IT  /S. 

initiatory  ceremony,  the  unsuspecting  victim  was 
securely  bound  and  placed  on  a  board  contrived 
for  the  purpose  they  had  in  view.  They  then 
stabbed  and  mutilated  him  in  the  most  horrible 
manner,  using  their  knives  slowly,  with  cruelty  calcu- 
lated to  heighten  his  agony.  An  attack  of  brain- 
fever  followed  this  terrible  shock  to  his  system  ;  and 
when  Pope  gradually  recovered  he  was  made  the 
drudge  of  the  village  by  day  and  a  butt  for  the 
mockery  of  the  Riff  bo)-s  in  the  evening  ;  but  as  he 
never  recovered  his  strength  sufficiently  to  compete 
as  a  beast  of  burden  with  the  other  animals  which 
the  Riffs  possessed,  they  were  glad  one  day  to 
trade  him  off  to  a  travelling  merchant,  who,  in  return, 
left  behind  him  in  the  village  a  donkey  that  had 
broken  down. 

Pcpe  carried  this  merchant's  pack  all  the  way 
across  IMorocco  to  Tafilet,  from  there  to  Tarudant, 
and  north  again  to  Mogador  and  Casa  Blanca,  where 
in  full  view  of  the  consulates  of  all  the  Great  Powers, 
he  was  sold  publicly  to  another  owner.  The  price 
paid  was  thirty  Spanish  dollars,  a  considerable  rise 
in  value  from  the  da)',  a  year  before,  when  he  was 
traded  off  for  a  lame  donkey. 

With  liis  new  owner  Pcpc  marched  all  across 
Morocco  from  Casa  Blanca  to  Piguig  on  the  Algerian 
fnjntier.  IIltc,  for  a  moment,  he  succeeded  in 
making  his  escape  from  his  watchful  master,  and  in 
making  his  way  to  the  camp  of  the  I'rcnch  garrison 
which  now  holds  this  frontier  town  ;  but  the  com- 
mander did  not  understand  Si)anish,  and,  as  Pepc's 
master  came  up  and  tried  to  drag   him   away,  he  did 


A     WHITE   SLAVE   IN  MOROCCO. 


139 


not  care  to  enter  into  what  he  considered  a  dispute 
merely  between  master  and  man.  On  his  return 
journey  his  second  owner  died  at  Oudjda,  and  the 
young  Spaniard  begged  his  way  on  to  Fez,  where  he 
had  arrived  only  a  few  days  before  attracting  our 
attention.     During  these  wanderings  over  the  length 


A  Tafilet  Merchant  on  liis  Meliari  (camel). 

and  breadth  of  the  country  he  had  been  compelled  to 
submit  to  every  indignity,  to  every  insult  which  the 
Moor,  his  master,  could  devise.  When  the  Moorish 
muleteers  had  finished  their  meal,  and  the  dogs  theirs, 
the  scraps  that  remained  were  thrown  to  him.  Only 
once  during  these  years  did  he  get  a  change  of 
garment,  which  happened   in  this  way,  near  Tafilet. 


140  MOROCCO  AS  IT  IS. 

He  found  a  fiiirly  good  jclab  lying  on  the  road 
which  he  immediately  put  on,  wondering  who  the 
extravagant  owner  might  be  who  had  thrown  away  a 
garment  but  half  used.  At  the  next  camping-ground 
he  learned  that  the  man  to  whom  the  garment 
had  belonged  had  died  of  small-pox,  and  that  his 
companions,  with  singular  prudence  and  caution  for 
Moors,  had  thrown  his  clothes  away  ;  but  Pcpe  clung 
to  his  new-found yi^/rt^,  preferring  the  danger  of  con- 
tagion to  the  ragged  nakedness  that  had  been  his 
lot. 

We  kept  the  poor  fellow  in  our  garden  for  over  a 
week,  debating  what  we  should  do  with  him.  He 
refused  absolutely  to  communicate  with  his  family 
in  Almeria.  He  said  he  preferred  that  they  should 
consider  him  dead  rather  than  that  they  should  learn 
of  the  suffering  he  had  undergone.  He  would  also 
on  no  account  allow  us  to  appeal  to  the  Spanish 
Legation  at  Tangier.  lie  had  an  idea  that  the 
officials  there  would  feel  compelled  to  hand  him  over 
to  the  authorities  and  send  him  back  to  serve  out  his 
sentence.  It  was  quite  impossible  to  disabuse  liim  of 
this  idea.  I'^in.illy,  our  new  protege  was  becoming 
rather  an  embarrassment,  when  Mr.  Ansaldo,  a 
]5ritish  subject  of  Tangier,  took  the  poor  fellow  under 
his  protection,  and  it  is  entirely  due  to  this  kind- 
hearted  gentleman  that  the  young  Spaniard  is  now 
safe,  and  out  of  the  reach  both  of  the  inhuman  Riffs 
and  the  Spanisii  authorities.  As  illustrating  the 
effect  such  prolonged  suffering  and  degiading  ex- 
periences had  upon  a  high-spirited  young  man,  1 
reproduce   the  last  words  we   had   with  him   before 


A    WHITE   SLAVE  IN  MOROCCO.  I4I 

sending  him  away  out  of  Fez  under  a  safe  escort. 
He  came  to  our  tent  with  tears  of  gratitude  in  his 
eyes,  and  profuse  and  really  touching  words  of  thanks 
upon  his  lips  for  the  little  kindness  we  had  been  able 
to  show  him.  W.  C,  in  the  kindness  of  his  heart, 
made  him  a  present,  of  a  valuable  hunting-knife, 
which  he  accepted  with  childish  delight  ;  but  half  an 
hour  later  he  appeared  at  our  tent-door,  and  his  face 
again  wore  the  hopeless,  hunted  expression  which  we 
had  seen  there  so  often  before,  "  I  cannot  accept 
your  knife,  sen  or,"  he  said  to  W.  C.  "  I  am  afraid  to 
take  it.  Hitherto  the  Moors  ^have  beaten  me  and 
treated  me  with  the  greatest  cruelty,  but  they  never 
killed  me,  because  it  was  not  worth  their  while  ;  but 
with  this  knife  in  my  possession  it  would  be.  I 
would  not  sell  it  after  the  senor's  kindness  to  me,  but 
he  must  not  be  vexed  with  me  for  not  taking  it.  I 
dare  not  accept  so  valuable  a  present."  It  was  in 
vain  that  we  assured  him  that  now  he  was  completely 
safe,  that  no  harm  could  possibly  come  to  him,  that 
we  would  answer  for  his  life.  His  only  reply  was, 
"  You  are  very  kind,  senor  ;  but  the  Christian  is  never 
safe  in  El  Maghreb." 

This,  reader,  is  not  a  tale  culled  from  "  Hakluyt's 
Voyages,"  or  a  page  from  the  story  of  some  Jesuit 
sent  out  into  the  wilds  of  the  earth  by  the  Pro- 
paganda, but  it  is  "the  plain,  unvarnished  tale  of  the 
treatment  of  one  whom  the  Riffs  considered  a  ship- 
wrecked mariner  on  their  coast,  along  which  hundreds 
and  hundreds  of  vessels  annually  ply,  which  is  not 
distant  one  thousand  miles  from  London  town,  and 
it  took  place  in  this  year  of  our  Lord  1892. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

.A    ROW    WITH    BUSHTA-EL-BAGDADI. 

The  midnight  encounter  at  the  Lions'  Gate — The  Ait-Atta 
Berbers  attack  us  in  the  Bazaars — Their  complaint  to  the 
Sultan — The  injured  Ait-Atta  turns  out  unfortunately  to 
be  a  "  Shereef " — The  shop  of  the  man  who  sold  me 
caftans  wrecked  by  the  mob — Our  complaint  to  the 
Grand  Vizier — Interview  with  the  Bashaw — Its  stormy 
course — The  pleasing  interlude  of  the  concealed  music- 
box — Bushta  Bagdadi  refuses  to  listen  to  us— Re- 
proaches me  with  my  beardless  chin  — W.  C.  brings  the 
United  States  navy  into  sight — Apologies  all  around,  we 
get  a  letter  from  the  Sultan  and  "  bejewelled  swords." 

On  the  evening  of  July  the  2nd,  an  incident 
occurred  which  has  been  so  distorted  in  telegrams 
and  newspaper  notices  that,  in  justice  to  myself,  I 
shall  enter  into  the  matter  at  some  leni^th.  I  had 
been  dining  at  the  mess  with  the  military  members 
of  the  Mission,  and  started  back  to  our  camp  about 
midnight  with  Boazza,  one  of  our  servants.  I  was 
on  horseback,  he  preceding  me  on  foot  with  a 
lantern.  It  was  a  pitch-dark  night,  and  we  had 
considerable  difficulty  in  finding  our  way  to  the  Bab 
Akbet  Sba,  or  Gate  of  the  Lions'  Hill,  through  which 
it  was  necessary  for  us  to  go  in  order  to  reach  the 
suburban     garden     in     which    we    were    encamped. 


A    ROW    WITH  BUSHTA-EL-BAGDADl.  1 43 

Though  it  was  still  an  hour  before  closing  time 
the  gate  was  shut.  We  knocked  for  ten  minutes 
at  least,  nobody  appeared  to  open  it.  Finally 
we  rapped  at  the  guard-house  in  the  Palace  of 
the  Bashaw  of  the  city,  about  fifty  yards  away 
from  the  gate.  Here  the  keys  were  usually  kept. 
The  guards  came  out,  about  a  dozen  in  number, 
and,  after  carefully  examining  our  faces  with  their 
lanterns,  and  with  anything  but  complimentary 
remarks,  went  back  again  into  the  guard-house, 
and  slammed  the  door  in  my  face.  We,  how- 
ever, knocked  again,  and  knocked  loudly,  and 
soon  the  whole  neighbourhood  was  aroused  and 
denouncing  us  in  unmeasured  terms  from  the  win- 
dows that  commanded  the  scene  of  what  was  fast 
becoming  a  midnight  brawl.  Finally,  the  guards 
again  threw  open  the  doors,  and  this  time,  as  they 
came  out,  I  noticed  that  they  were  armed.  Six  of 
them  at  least  had  their  rifles,  three  or  four  presented 
pistols,  and  the  rest  carried  very  truculent-looking 
bludgeons.  They  told  us  that  if  we  did  not  go 
away  they  would  shoot.  Boazza,  my  muleteer, 
stood  his  ground  manfully.  It  was  only  what  I 
expected  from  the  man  who  enjoyed  such  a  univer- 
sally bad  character.  Finally,  as  the  men  continued 
to  gather  around  me  in  a  most  threatening  manner, 
I  drew  my  pistols  and  covered  them.  It  must 
have  been  amusing  to  look  at,  but  it  was  not  amusing 
to  live  through.  For  fully  three  minutes  not  a  sound 
was  heard.  I  am  afraid  I  lost  my  temper,  and 
certainly  the  provocation  was  great.  I  remember 
riding  up  to  the  Caid  of  the  guard  and  giving  him  a 


144  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

rather  sound  box  on  the  ears.  Boazza  and  I  were 
shouting  for  the  key  the  while,  and  the  guards  were 
loud  in  the  expression  of  a  wish  to  see  my  grand- 
mother burnt  in  the  seventh  and  nethermost  storey 
of  hell.  Suddenly  they  made  unanimously  for  tlie 
door,  as  I  thought,  to  get  the  key  ;  but  Boazza  was 
quicker  witted,  and,  as  they  suddenly  turned  to  close 
the  door  after  them  in  our  faces,  he  put  his  foot  on 
the  threshold,  and  got  it  well  smashed  for  his  pains. 
Seeing  that  their  idea  was  to  let  us  spend  the  night 
in  the  dirty  street  by  the  Akbet  Sba,  I  put  my 
horse  against  the  door  which  Boazza  had  succeeded 
in  keeping  a  few  inches  open  at  the  cost  of  a 
severe  crushing  to  his  knee  ;  and  the  next  moment 
the  door  gave  wa}-,  and,  to  the  unspeakable  sur- 
prise of  the  guards,  Mulai  Hassan,  my  pony,  and 
I,  closely  followed  by  Boazza,  were  parading  in 
the  most  magnificent  manner  inside  the  guard- 
house. Mulai  Hassan,  who  was  as  much  frightened 
and  nervous  as  his  rider,  which  is  saj'ing  a  good 
deal,  prancing  and  kicking  about,  contrived  to  do  a 
lot  of  damage.  Two  beautiful  little  tiled  tables,  upon 
which  the  Caid  was  taking  his  midnight  tea,  were 
kicked  into  smithereens.  Cups  and  saucers  were 
broken,  and  lie  pranced  about  on  the  Zimmoor  rugs 
as  though  these  beautiful  carpets  were  his  nightly 
bedding.  The  guards,  myself,  and  Boazza,  presented 
arms  again  for  about  five  minutes,  somewhat  after 
the  menacing  attitude  of  rival  armies  in  an  Italian 
opera.  I  soon  discovered  that  the  old  Caid  in  charge 
of  the  night  guard  was  its  weakest  member,  and  so, 
catching  him  by  the  car,  and  giving  it  a  good  tug, 


A   ROW    WITH  BUSHTA-EL-BAGDADI.  I45 

I   placed    my  pistol  very   near  to   his   temple,   and 
explained  that   unless    the  keys   of   the    gate   were 
forthcoming   in    very   short    order,    there   would    be 
bloodshed.     The  Caid  was  very  much  flustered    at 
this  sudden  onslaught.     He  swore  that  no  insult  had 
been  intended,  that  the  keys  of  the  gate  were  under 
the  Bashaw's  pillow,  and  that  it  was  impossible  for 
him  to  get  at  them.     Seeing,  however,  that  I  was 
obdurate,  he  implored  one  of  the  soldiers,  his  son,  I 
believe,  to  go  upstairs,  awake  the  Bashaw,  and  beg 
him   for  the  keys.     For   five    minutes    we  stood   in 
statuesque  pose,  the  Moors  covering  me  with  their 
rifles,  and  I  with  the  shining  barrel  of  my  revolver 
within  six  inches  of  the   old  Caid's   bald   cranium. 
Finally    the  young  soldier  returned,  and  with  him 
came  the  most  absolutely  repulsive-looking  old  re- 
probate that  I   have  ever  seen  in   my  life.     It  was 
Bushta-el-Bagdadi,  the  Bashaw.     He  had  been   dis- 
turbed in  his  sleep  ;    his  eyes  were  bloodshot,  and 
his  under-lip  hung  over  like  a  hound's.    He  carried  a 
candle,  which  he  held  up,  and  studied  my  face  with 
an  expression  of  the  most  concentrated  hatred  that  I 
have  ever  seen  on  a  human  visage — which  I   hope 
I  may  never  excite  again.     My  statuesque  attitude 
of  murderous  menace  was  growing  wearisome,  when 
the    Bashaw    terminated   the    trying    situation    by 
saying  to  the  young  soldier,  "  Bring  the  keys,"  and 
in  a  moment  the   gate  was   opened^  and  we    rode 
through  amid  the  curses  of  the  angry  crowds  that 
had  now  assembled.     It  was  unpleasant  to  have  to 
turn  our  backs  upon  these  people,  but  it  had  to  be 
done.     They  stood  there  armed,  cursing  as  we  rode 

L 


146  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

by,  and  I  can  answer  for  my  own  feelings  at  least 
when  I  say  that  I  did  not  feel  perfectly  safe  from 
stray  bullets  until  we  had  turned  the  corner. 

The  following  morning  was  the  last  business  day 
before  the  commencement  of  the  New  Year  festivities, 
and,  as  we  were  leaving  Fez  in  a  week,  we  had  to 
gather  together  all  our  purchases  on  that  day.  About 
ten  o'clock  I  started  down  into  the  bazaars  on  horse- 
back, v/ith  Salem-el-Sheshouani  accompanying  me  on 
foot.  I  went  from  bazaar  to  bazaar  until  finally  I 
reached  the  little  shop  of  a  sleek  merchant  named 
Absalom,  who  had  been  making  some  caftans  for  me. 
For  ten  minutes  we  had  noticed  half  a  dozen  wild- 
looking  Berbers  following  us,  but  I  attributed  this  to 
their  curiosity  at  seeing  a  Christian.  They  were 
evidently  strangers  to  Fez,  of  the  Ait-Atta  tribe,  and 
live  between  Wadnoon  and  Timbuctoo.  They  are  the 
men  who  murdered  the  English  traveller  Davidson 
when  he  endeavoured  to  reach  Timbuctoo  in  1836,  as 
I  afterwards  learned.  Absalom,  the  caftan  maker, 
was  engaged  with  another  customer  when  we  appeared. 
He,  however,  pointed  to  a  shelf  in  his  shop  on  which, 
he  said,  our  bundle  of  caftans  was  done  up  and  ready. 
Salem  was  reaching  up  to  get  down  my  bundle  when 
one  of  the  Ait-Atta  tribesmen  gave  him  a  good  blow 
across  the  back  with  the  handle  of  the  spear  he  was 
carrying.  "  Servant  of  a  dog  of  a  Christian,"  he  said, 
"  how  dare  you  lay  hands  on  the  caftans  of  the  True 
Believers?"  Salem  was  very  much  taken  back,  and 
I  very  angry  indeed,  at  this  sudden  onslaught.  I 
gave  the  man  a  cut  across  the  head  with  my  riding- 
crop,  and  his  turban  rolled  off  into  the  gutter.     Un- 


A    now    WITH  BUSHTA-EL'BAGDADI.  1 47 

fortunately  his  turban  was  a  green  one,  showing  that 
he  was  of  Shereefian  or  saintly  descent,  and  it  was 
not  until  I  saw  the  look  of  horror  that  came  over 
Salem's  face,  and  heard  the  cries  of  indignation  that 
burst  from  every  lip,  that  I  realized  what  I  had 
done.  I  had  struck  a  descendant  of  Mahomet,  and 
knocked  off  his  holy  turban.  We  were  in  a  little  side 
alley  off  the  main  street  that  runs  through  the  bazaars, 
and  if  the  Ait-Atta  had  had  any  "  snap  "  in  them 
at  all  they  could  have  cut  us  up  into  pieces  in  the 
winking  of  an  eye.  There  was  no  way  to  get  out 
except  through  the  angry  crowd  of  five  or  six  hun- 


The  Sultan's  sword  and  Shereefian  belt. 

dred  Moors  in  front  of  us,  angry  and  raging  at  the 
thought  of  the  sacrilegious  blow  that  had  been  in- 
flicted on  one  of  the  anointed  of  their  race  and 
creed.  Poor  Salem's  complexion  was  now  a  mottled 
green  colour  ;  I  have  no  means  of  knowing  what  was 
the  colour  of  mine,  but  my  knees  were  jumping  against 
the  side  of  my  horse  in  the  most  remarkable  fashion, 
and  certainly  I  was  cursing  my  impulsiveness,  and 
never  expecting  to  get  out  of  that  blind  alley  alive. 
Fortunately  Absalom,  the  old  caftan  maker,  made  a 
diversion  in  our  favour.  He  had  made  a  good  deal 
of  money  out  of  the  strangers  who  were  in  Fez,  so  he 
was  good  enough  to  say  that  it  was  not  my  fault  at 
all,  and  that  I  was  perfectly  justified  in  striking  the 

L   2 


148  MOROCCO  AS   IT  IS. 

Shereef  who  had  dared  to  punish  my  servant  for 
taking  down  out  of  the  shop  caftans  which  belonged 
to  me,  and  which  had  been  paid  for.  This  was  all 
very  true,  but  it  was  a  very  unwise  thing  for  Absalom 
to  say.  I  had  two  revolvers,  and  Salem  had  a  very 
ugly-looking  curved  knife,  so  that  we  were  more 
formidable  than  the  sleek  caftan  maker,  and  could  cer- 
tainly have  "  driven  daylight  through  "  three  or  four 
saints,  or  sinners,  before  being  pinned  down  and  over- 
powered by  numbers.  The  crowd,  seeing  our  deter- 
mined front,  turned  on  Absalom.  They  cursed  him 
for  having  brought  Christians  into  the  quarter,  and  , 
while  they  were  massing  in  some  numbers  in  front 
of  his  shop,  Salem  and  I  put  on  a  bold  front  and 
rode  out  of  the  blind  alley.  I  had  a  pistol  in  my 
right  hand  and  another  in  myJeft.  Several  of  the 
Ait-Atta  now  brought  their  guns  up  to  the  shoulder, 
but  they  took  them  down  very  quickly  when  I  covered 
them  with  my  Colt's  revolvers.  We  backed  out  into  the 
main  street,  and  then  it  occurred  to  me  that  it  would 
never  do  to  leave  the  bazaars  under  compulsion, especi- 
ally as  Salem  knew  that  I  had  not  half  completed  my 
purchases  ;  so  we  next  visited  the  Babousha  and  the 
brass  bazaars,  and  not  for  half  an  hour,  when  all  my 
purchases  were  made  and  parcels  collected,  did  I  feel 
at  liberty  to  start  for  the  camp.  During  the  whole 
time  the  Ait-Atta  followed  us,  telling  the  Moors  their 
version  of  the  encounter,  and  endeavouring  to  bring 
about  a  religious  row.  It  was  very  unpleasant  to  look 
out  from  a  shop  upon  a  sea  of  upturned,  hostile  faces, 
and  expect  every  moment  to  have  a  knife  stuck  in  you. 
The  Ait-Atta,  who  I  certainly  believe, though  I  have  no 


A    ROW    WITH  BUSHTA-EL-BAGDADI.  1 49 

manner  of  proof  of  it,  had  been  sent  to  pick  a  quarrel 
with  me  by  the  Bashaw,  followed  me  at  a  respectful  dis- 
tance to  the  garden  where  my  camp  was.  On  arriving 
here,  I  found  Absalom,  the  caftan  maker,  awaiting 
our  return  trembling  like  an  aspen  leaf,  with  his  face 
as  white  as  his  haik.  It  seems  that  the  shopkeepers 
and  the  Berbers  had  wrecked  his  shop  immediately 
after  my  departure,  and,  after  giving  him  a  good 
flogging,  had  said  that,  if  he  ever  returned  to  the 
shop  again,  they  would  kill  him.  Absalom  enjoyed, 
or  speaking  more  correctly  endured,  the  rude  hospi- 
tality of  my  garden  for  three  days,  but  losing  faith  in 
the  protection  of  the  stars  and  stripes  during  the 
exciting  days  that  followed,  he  "  scuttled  "  one  night 
and  took  sanctuary  in  the  Mosque  of  Mulai  Edriss_, 
where  he  may  be  cringing  and  crouching  to  this  day, 
fed  by  the  pitying  priest  and  his  own  relations. 

Immediately  after  trailing  me  to  my  garden,  the 
Ait-Atta  rode  to  their  encampment  outside  the  walls, 
told  their  fellow-tribesmen  of  their  grievance,  and, 
two  hours  later  they  appeared  before  the  Sultan's 
Palace  on  horseback,  three  hundred  strong,  and 
demanded  an  audience  of  the  great  Seedna. 

This  was  granted  them.  I  believe  the  injured 
saint,  whose  holy  turban  had  rolled  in  the  gutter, 
demanded  my  head  and  ears  as  the  only  punish- 
ment at  all  adequate  to  my  offence.  This  news 
reached  me  in  my  camp,  where,  after  thinking 
the  matter  all  over,  I  had  concluded  to  drop  it,  to 
make  no  complaint,  but  to  get  out  of  Fez  soon,  the 
day  after  the  fete  if  possible.  Indeed  it  was  won- 
derful how  easy  it  is  to  dismiss  the  most  important 


150  MOROCCO  AS   IT  IS. 

matters  and  the  most  flagrant  insults  from  your  mind 
during  the  red-hot  Ansera  month  in  Fez  with  the 
thermometer  at  no  in  the  shade. 

Now  I  saw,  however,  that,  if  only  in  self-defence, 
something  would  have  to  be  done,  so  the  afternoon 
was  spent  in  learned  discussions  with  the  taleebs  or 
writers  of  the  British  Mission,  who  were  placed  at  my 
disposal  for  the  purpose  of  drafting  a  letter  by  the 
British  Envoy.  The  result  of  our  consultations  was 
a  very  enigmatical  letter  which,  after  being  duly 
signed  by  W.  C.  and  myself,  was  despatched  to  the 
Grand  Vizier.  We  also  sent  a  verbal  message  to  the 
Bashaw,  asking  for  an  interview,  and  on  the  follow- 
ing morning  we  received  a  request  from  him  to  call 
at  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 

With  calculated  want  of  punctuality,  we  arrived 
at  the  Bashaw's  ramshackle  Palace  at  the  Lions' 
Gate  twenty  minutes  after  tiie  hour  at  which  we 
had  been  requested  to  appear.  The  l^ashaw  got 
back  at  us,  I  think  very  neatly,  in  serving  tea  that 
had  been  standing  at  least  for  an  hour.  Wc 
were  received  by  a  huge  black  slave  from  the 
Sahara,  whose  expression  of  countenance  was  as 
dark  and  as  lowering  even  as  the  Numich'an  black- 
ness of  his  complexion.  We  were  escorted  b}-  hini 
through  the  garden  into  the  summer  pavilion  or 
koubba,  in  which  it  is  tiie  liashaw's  custom  to 
give  audiences  during  the  summer  solstice.  At 
the  back  of  the  pavilion  the  floor  was  raised  about 
ten  inches.  Here  in  a  little  niche  cushions  were 
arranged  awaiting  the  coming  of  the  liishaw.  This 
was  his  throne.     To  the  right  of  the  raised   dais  had 


A   I^OW   WITH  BUSHTA-EL-BAGDADI.  15I 

been  arranged  three  very  dainty  little  chairs,  all 
covered  with  gilt.  They  were,  we  were  told,  a 
present  from  a  European  sovereign  desirous  of  con- 
ciliating the  redoubtable  Bashaw,  and  of  securing 
his  good  offices  at  the  Shereefian  Court.  We  were 
accompanied  by  M.  Vismes  de  Ponthieu,  the  first 
dragoman  of  the  British  Legation,  who  had  kindly 
consented  to  act  as  our  interpreter.  In  a  iew 
moments  the  Bashaw  appeared  in  the  doorway. 
His  brutal,  ignorant  face,  wreathed  in  smiles,  as  it 
was  now,  seemed  even  more  repugnant  than  in  its 
natural  ♦expression  of  unreasoning  hatred  to  the 
roumi.  He  shook  us  warmly  by  the  hand,  put  his 
hand  then  to  his  heart,  and  kissed  his  finger  tips,  all 
in  our  honour,  very  well  before  we  knew  what  he 
was  about.  He  then  sat  down  on  the  tufted  cushions 
after  having  requested  us  to  be  seated  ;  and,  slowly 
telling  his  prayer  beads  the  while,  with  monotonous 
voice  he  began  to  pay  us  the  usual  Moorish  compli- 
ments which,  for  the  purposes  of  direct  narrative,  I  will 
omit  here.  He  said  he  was  indeed  very  glad  to  see  us, 
as  his  soldiers  had  complained  that  I  had  whipped 
them,  and  pointed  my  revolver  at  them  in  the  most 
threatening  manner,  and  that,  when  after  a  slight  delay 
in  opening  the  gate,  for  which  they  were  not  respon- 
sible as  the  keys  were  mislaid,  they  said  I  had  fired  a 
fusillade  of  joy  to  celebrate  my  victory,  and  that  the 
bullets  had  whizzed  within  a  few  inches  of  the  Caid's 
head. 

"Of  course.  Son  of  America,"  he  concluded,  "  I  know 
there  must  be  some  mistake,  and  I  am  indeed  glad  that 
you  have  come  to  me  frankly  to  tell  me  all  about  it." 


152  MOROCCO  AS   IT  IS. 

Very  bluntly  \vc  restated  the  case,  and  told  the 
Bashaw  that  we  had  come  to  demand  an  explanation 
and  redress — not  to  give  cither  the  one  or  the  other. 
The  Bashaw's  facial  expression,  as  he  listened  to  my 
story,  was  simply  inimitable.  The  corners  of  his 
mouth  twitched  with  insuppressible  incredulity,  and 
his  eyes  twinkled  with  the  sceptical  amusement  of  a 
man  who  reads  a  good  sea-serpent  story  in  his  news- 
paper during  the  "silly  season."  Every  now  and 
then  he  would  throw  back  his  head  and  emit  a 
guttural  "  oollah,  oollah  "— "  My  God  "—of  astonish- 
ment and  admiration  ;  and  then  he  would  turn 
towards  me  and  survey  me  from  head  to  feet  with 
ever-increasing  admiration  for  what  he  had  evidently 
decided  to  consider  the  valued  embroidery  of  a 
bald  and  otherwise  uninteresting  narrative.  It  was 
admirable,  but  at  the  same  time  very  irritating,  and 
I  was  about  to  break  off  abruptly  my  story  when  the 
Bashaw  interrupted  and  brought  upon  his  own 
shoulders  the  responsibility  for  the  breaking  off  of 
all  diplomatic  relations  with  the  sons  of  America. 

"You  say  my  guards  were  armed  ?"  he  inquired. 
"  /  say  they  had  only  sticks.  As  long  as  the  Chris- 
tians arc  in  town  I  alwa>-s  lock  up  the  rifles  in  my 
own  room  every  night  before  going  to  bed,  so  that 
my  men,  full  of  a  h(jly  hatred  to  the  Christians,  may 
yet  do  them  no  harm."  This  was  indeed  a  very 
serious  charge,  but  I  controlled  my  temper,  as  I 
wished  him  to  go  on  record  as  to  whether  he  had 
witnessed  the  altercation,  or  not.  In  reply  to  the 
question  I  jiul  to  him,  he  rcj)licd  unblushingly  that 
he   had  not.     Then  I    asked  if  he  presumed  to  con- 


A   J?01V    WITH  BUSHTA-EL-BAGDADI.  153 

tradlct  me  on  the  facts  of  the  occurrence  in  which  I 
was  an  actor,  and  which,  to  credit  his  own  words,  he 
had  not  witnessed.     He  growled  out  that,  by  all  the 
saints,  including  Mulai  Abd-de-Kader,  he  did.     Then 
I  requested    the   interpreter  to    inform    the  Bashaw 
that  he  was  a  liar,  but  our  interpreter,  alas !  was  a 
respecter  of  persons  from    a    monarchical    country, 
and  perhaps  he  doubted  very  much  the  advisability 
of  insulting  such  a  lion  in  his  very  lair,  so  he  hemmed 
and  hawed,  and  said  nothing.     Finally,  however,  we 
got  him  on  up  to  the  correct  translating  point,  and 
he  told  the  Bashaw  what  I  thought  of  him  in  Moorish, 
and    a  very  ugly,  sharp    sounding,  hissing   word    it 
is.     The   Bashaw  gave  a   little   start,  as  though  he 
had   been   given    an    electric    shock.     Then,  pulling 
himself  together,    he  put  his  hand   to  his  ear,  and 
turning  to  Salem,  my  boy,  asked  him    to  explain. 
"  What  does  the  son  of  America  say  ? "  he  inquired. 
"  He  said,"  replied  the  boy,  "  O  Bashaw,  that  thou 
liest."      I  have  often  envied    Salem's    cocksureness, 
and  the  perfect  confidence  he  had  that,  if  anything 
should    happen    to   him,    should    a    wrong    ever  be 
done  him,  his  beloved  mountaineers,  the  Sheshouani, 
would  exact  a  complete  and  terrible  revenge.     The 
Bashaw    had    probably  feigned  deafness  and    made 
a    pretence    of  not   having   understood    our    inter- 
preter in  order  to  give   us  an  opportunity  to  weigh 
our  words,  and,  if  possible,  to  avoid  a  rupture,  which 
he  knew  his  master,  the  Sultan,  did  not  desire  ;  but, 
on  the  repetition  of  the  statement  from  the  mouth  of 
a  slave,  and  seeing  that,  as  the   necessity  arose,  we 
did  not  hesitate  to  call  even  the  Bashaw  a  liar,  he 


154  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

with  very  rage  frothed  at  the  mouth,  and  growled 
like  a  wild  beast.  He  tugged  at  his  beard,  beat  his 
hands  against  his  head,  and  cried  that  it  was  indeed 
disgraceful  that  I,  a  beardless  boy,  should  so  insult 
a  man  of  his  age. 

"  But  it  will  not  go  unpunished,"  he  cried,  as  he 
drew  himself  together,  and  crouched  as  though  pre- 
paring to  spring  upon  us.  We  had  been  prepared 
for  a  stormy  interview,  and  our  revolvers  were  in 
our  pockets,  and  not  in  our  holsters,  which  we  had 
found  was  an  unhandy  place  to  have  them  in 
Morocco,  even  if  moving  in  court  circles  as  we  were 
doing.  The  Bashaw  continued  to  rage  about  the 
kouba,  and  by  his  menacing  talk  evidently  tried  to 
instigate  his  slaves  to  attack  us  then  and  there,  or 
waylay  us  later  on  in  the  streets.  At  this  point  W.  C. 
arose  from  his  chair  and  made  a  speech,  in  which  he 
drew  a  picture  of  the  misfortunes  that  would  accrue 
to  Morocco  from  a  rupture  of  diplomatic  relations 
with  America,  so  perfect  in  detail,  and  so  magnifi- 
cently lifelike  in  word-painting,  that,  listening  to  his 
eloquent  words,  I  saw  our  "  Xk\v  NavV  "  bearing 
down  on  the  Barbary  coast  to  bombard  and  harry 
the  country,  and  a  picture  of  the  holy  Mosque  at 
Salce  in  smoking  ashes  rose  before  me.  Indeed  I 
experience  the  greatest  difficulty  now  in  believing 
that  the  Baltimore  has*  not  bombarded  Salec.  As 
Chanlcr  rose  for  this  patriotic  performance,  a  music- 
box  attached  to  iiis  chair,  arrangetl  to  play  as  the 
sitter  rose,  pealed  out  the  strains  (»f  "  1  leil  dir  im  sciges 
Kran/,."  The  situation  became  side-splitting.  With 
the  greatest  difficulty  I  preserved  the  necessary  gravity 
of  countenance.  It  had  all  evidently  been  pre-arranged 


A    FOW    WITH  BUSHTA-EL-BAGDADI.  1 55 

by  the  Bashaw,  who  had  awaited  a  very  different 
conclusion  to  our  interview.  W.  C.  wished  to  bring 
before  him  the  ignominious  manner  in  which  he  had 
treated  Moses-ben-Amoor-ben-Assouli,  our  consular 
agent  in  Fez,  who,  as  we  had  only  found  out  that 
morning,  when  he  called  on  the  Bashaw  with  our 
letter  from  the  Consul-General  in  Tangier,  had  been 
ignominiously  thrown  out  of  the  Palace.  But  the 
Bashaw  would  have  absolutely  nothing  more  to  say 
to  us,  and  without  any  formal  leave-taking,  we 
returned  to  our  garden  to  discuss  the  situation  which 
had  now  assumed  a  rather  serious  aspect.  The  Ait- 
Atta  were  still  encamped  outside  the  walls  of  the 
city,  vowing  vengeance  upon  me  for  the  blow  I  had 
given  their  saint.  Salem,  who  was  by  no  means 
timorous,  asserted  that  in  the  morning  he  had  met 
two  of  the  Ait-Atta  by  Mulai  Edriss,  that  they  had 
drawn  their  knives  on  him,  and  that  he  had  only 
succeeded  in  escaping  from  them  by  running.  To 
make  matters  worse,  Caid  Sudec,  our  soldier,  had 
left  three  days  before  for  Mekinez  on  a  visit  to  one 
of  his  very  numerous  wives — not  that  we  could  have 
counted  in  the  least  upon  this  stalwart  coward  in  the 
hour  of  danger,  but  because  in  a  weak  moment  I 
had  lent  him  my  rifle  for  the  journey.  He  had 
worked  upon  my  feelings  by  telling  me  that  going 
to  Mekinez  he  would  have  to  pass  through  the  terri- 
tory  of  the  Berber  tribe  with  whom  his  family  had  a 
blood  feud.  Our  garden  was  half  a  mile  away  from 
the  Mission  House,  and  the  messages  we  had  sent  to 
the  consular  agent  remained  unanswered.  Shortly 
before  sunset,  however,  a  letter  came  from  Sir 
Charles  Euan-Smith  in  which  he  strongly  advised  us 


156  MOROCCO  AS  IT  IS. 

to  take  up  residence  temporarily  at  the  Mission. 
He  offered  in  case  we  did  not  care  to  leave  our 
garden — a  step  which  would  have  undoubtedly 
led  the  Moors  to  think  that  fear  of  them  had 
inspired  us  to  that  move — to  send  down  some  of 
the  Mission  soldiers  and  servants  to  assist  us  in  the 
event  of  an  attack  being  made  upon  our  camp. 
We  were  very  grateful  for  the  offer,  but,  after  one 
look  at  the  stars  and  stripes  which  floated  over  our 
heads,  we  declined  it  with  thanks.  Though  the  neces- 
sities of  his  diplomatic  position  prohibited  Sir  Charles 
from  taking  any  official  steps  in  our  case,  unofficially 
he  was  very  active  in  our  behalf,  and  it  was  no 
doubt  due  in  a  great  measure  to  the  suggestions  and 
advice  given  by  him  to  Sid  Gharnet  that  our  griev- 
ances with  the  Moori-h  Government  were  so 
promptly  settled.  Early  in  the  morning  we  received 
a  note  from  Sid  Gharr.et,  asking  us  to  meet  him  in 
the  afternoon  at  the  English  Mission.  There  he 
expressed  great  regret  that  we  should  have  been  so 
molested,  and  said  that  the  Sultan  had  instructed 
him  to  offer  us  5000  dollars  as  indemnity  for  the 
dangers  to  which  we  had  been  exposed,  and  as  a 
settlement  of  all  differences.  lie  also  proffered  a 
Shcrecfian  escort  of  fifty  cavalry  for  our  journey  to 
the  coast.  This  settlement  wc  refused  to  consider.  He 
then  asked  what  our  demands  were.  Wc  stated  that 
wc  required  a  letter  from  the  Sultan  expressing  his 
regret  at  the  occurrence,  a  personal  apology  from  the 
Bashaw  to  mc  for  his  insulting  language,  the  whip- 
ping of  the  guards,  and  a  small  monetary  compensa- 
tion for  Sal(;m  and  Boa/.za  who  had  been  injured  in 


A   ROW    WITH  BUSHTA-EL-BAGDADI.  15/ 

the  encounters.  In  the  evening  Sid  Gharnet  called 
and  said  that  the  Sultan  requested  him  to  thank  us 
for  what  he  chose  to  term  our  magnanimity,  and  to 


^Lv;i 


nijw^ 


The  Sultan's  Letter. 


State  that  his  Shereefian  Majesty  was  very  willing 
indeed  to  comply  with  our  demands,  and  further,  as 
an  indication  of  the  high  esteem  in  which  he  held  us, 
he  hoped  that  we  would  each  accept  at  his  hands 


158  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

a  Shereefian  sword  and  belt.  The  next  day  we 
received  the  following  letter  which  was  written  by 
the  Grand  Vizier,  Sid  Gharnet,  himself.  In  the  left- 
hand  corner,  at  the  end  of  the  letter,  there  was  a 
short  dash  in  pencil  which  time  and  weather  have 
now  effaced.  This  was  the  sign  of  Imperial  approval 
of  its  contents.  The  Sultan  never  writes  his  own 
letters,  but  runs  them  over  carefully  and  approves  of 
them  with  this  pencil  dash. 

Only  his  official  letters  and  mandates  are  stamped 
with  the  Shereefian  seal. 

(Translation). 

Praise  be  to  God. 
There  is  no  strength  and  power  but  in  God.     To  our  friends 
the  men  of  wisdom,  the  gentlemen,  the  officers,  the  Americans. 
We  always  ask  about  your  healtli  and  hope  you  arc  all  well. 

I  have  informed  our  Lord  (may  God  protect  him)  of  what  has 
occurred  between  you  and  the  Berbers  of  the  tribe  of  Ait- 
Atta,  for  which  our  Lord  is  sorry,  because  you  belong  to  a  great 
and  friendly  nation,  and  our  Lord  objects  to  cases  like  this 
taking  place  in  his  Dominions,  on  the  contrary,  he  desires  that 
you  be  protected  in  his  Dominions  ;  and  his  Majesty  has 
ordered  me  to  express  to  you  these  his  wishes,  and  he  expects 
that  you  will  not  be  sorry  for  what  has  occurred,  because  the 
Berbers  are  very  ignorant  people,  and  know  nothing  about 
courtesy,  they  arc  always  on  the  wing  like  birds,  and  very  seldonj 
come  to  our  City  of  Fez. 

Our  Lord  makes  you  a  present  of  these  two  gilded  sabres 
(made  in  our  happy  country)  through  our  friend  the  British  Am" 
bassador,  and  he  desires  you  to  live  in  tranquility,  joy  and 
peace. 

3  day  of  Dulbigia  1309  = 

to  28th  day  of  June  1S92. 

(Signed)         ^LxuoMEU  Gharnei', 

Vizier. 


A    EOW    WITH  BUSHTA-EL-BAGDADI.  159 

The  same  evening  we  received  the  Shereefian 
swords,  which  were  very  handsome.  The  green  and 
purple  belts,  the  colours  indicative  of  friendship  and 
esteem  of  the  Sultan,  that  accompanied  them  were 
particularly  beautiful.  Bushta  made  his  personal 
apology,  and  the  men  were  paid  their  money.  We 
were  asked  then  to  appoint  an  hour  convenient  to  us 
when  the  Bashaw's  soldiers  would  be  brought  into 
our  garden,  and  publicly  thrashed  with  the  filcly 
before  our  eyes.  This  offer,  out  of  consideration  for 
our  nerves,  and  the  feelings  of  the  sweet-singing  bul- 
buls  that  inhabited  our  garden,  we  declined,  request- 
ing that  the  men  might  receive  their  punishment 
elsewhere.  I  suppose  they  were  never  punished  at 
all  in  consequence.  Even  after  this  satisfactory 
settlement  of  all  our  grievances  was  reached,  we 
deeply  regretted  the  occurrence.  For  a  time  at  least 
we  had  to  say  good-bye  to  o.ur  long  planned  trip  to 
the  Beni-m'ghil  country^  where  we  had  hoped  to 
hunt  the  "yellow-haired  sheriffs,"  as  Salem  re- 
spectfully called  the  lions  that  abound  there.  Now, 
we  could  no  longer  hope  to  "  pan  "  for  gold  in  the 
country  of  Ait-Atta,  or  chase  the  agile  mouflon  on  the 
slopes  of  the  Atlas.  It  was  quite  apparent  that  "  the 
men  of  wisdom,  the  Americans,"  after  whose  welfare 
and  health  the  Sultan  was  so  solicitous,  would  have 
to  leave  the  country  for  a  short  time  at  least,  and,  if 
we  had  had  any  doubt  as  to  the  advisability  of  this 
course,  it  would  have  been  dispelled  by  the  reception 
of  the  request  we  made  to  Sid  Gharnet  that  we  might 
be  allowed  to  view  the  fete  of  the  Hydia  on  the 
following  day,  when  the  Berber  chieftains  bring  in 


l6o  MOROCCO  AS  IT  IS. 

New  Year's  gifts  of  produce,  and  are  received  by  the 
Sultan  in  the  INIeshwa. 

"  Oolah — by  God/'  he  exclaimed ;  "  it  would  be 
as  much  as  your  life  is  worth. '^  We  told  him  that 
we  would  accept  the  responsibilityj  and  take  with- 
out a  murmur  the  consequences  of  our  presence  there, 
but  he  replied  that,  though  we  seemed  to  value  our 
lives  cheaply,  perhaps  in  the  eyes  of  our  relatives 
they  would  seem  very  valuable,  in  case  we  met  with 
sudden  death.  He  added  that  the  Government  was 
already  groaning  under  the  heavy  compensations 
paid  to  the  families  of  Europeans  who  had  come  to 
grief  in  Morocco. 

During  the  stay  of  the  English  Mission  in  Fez 
there  was  encamped  in  a  garden  near  ours  a  bi-lingual 
journalist,  and  as  the  sequel  proved,  very  well- 
informed  he  was  as  to  the  course  of  the  negotiations. 
Probably  in  default  of  more  important  and  exciting 
news,  this  gentleman  informed  the  world  in  two 
languages  that  at  the  great  feast  of  Ait-el-Keber, 
1  had  been  stoned  to  death,  and  that  W.  C.  had 
been  severely  mauled  and  mangled,  that  every 
breath  he  drew  was  expected  to  be  his  last.  This 
information  he  sent  to  the  coast  by  messenger, 
without  making  an  effort  to  control  its  accuracy, 
though  the  garden  over  which  the  stars  and  stripes 
floated  was  hardly  300  yards  away  from  his  camp. 
On  the  following  day  we  met  him  out,  riding,  and 
certainly  he  evinced  no  surprise  at  finding  that  we 
were  still  alive,  and  indeed,  a  rare  thing  for  a  French 
journalist,  he  did  not  have  sufficient  esprit  dc  con- 
frerie  and   courtesy  to  inform  us  that   for  the  world 


A    J?0]]'    WITH  DUSHTA-EL-BAGDADI.  l6l 

at  large  at  least   we  were  dead,  and    consequently 
ought  to  go  and  bury  ourselves. 

It  was  only  on  our  arrival  in  Tangier  that  we  were 
informed  of  our  demise,  and  also  learned  that  our 
friends  in  America  had  communicated  with  our 
Minister  there  by  cable,  and  that  boxes  were  being 
prepared  for  our  shipment  home.  I  believe  we  Vv'ere  to 
go  as  "  first-class  anatomical  specimens  " — a  flatter- 
ing subterfuge  by  which  the  remains  of  Americans 
who  pass  away  in  foreign  countries  are  accepted  b)- 
the  steamship  companies  for  their  last  journey  home 
to  the  land  of  the  McKinley  Bill. 


.M 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE   SHEREEFS   OF    WAZZAN. 

The  late  Grand  Shereef  Mulai  Abd-el-S!ilem— A  direct  de- 
scendant of  Mahomet — The  humbler  origin  of  the  Fileli 
family  of  Sultan  Mulai  Hassan — Chief  of  the  Mahommedan 
sect,  Manlai  Taib — The  late  Grand  Shereef  as  a  con- 
spirator— He  becomes  a  French  protege — His  marriage 
with  an  English  lady — The  "  Fatha  "  lisped  with  a  Cockney 
accent — Anglo-Moorish  Saints — A  heavy  fine  imposed  on 
infidelity — The  Grand  Shereef  sent  to  the  Touat  country 
— His  spendthrift  habits — The  walking-staff  and  the 
Shereefian  succession — Mulai  Mohamed-el-Erbi  succeeds 
to  the  Apostolic  throne — He  is  a  Nationalist — Averse  to 
the  interference  of  European  diplomacy  in  Moorish 
affairs. 

The  late  Grand  Shcrccf  of  Wazzan,  the  Pope  of 
Mauritania,  as  he  was  often  though  \vron<^fuIly  called, 
was  an  intcrcstinfj  and  powerful  factor  in  the  war  of 
intrigue  which  is  now  going  on  in  Morocco.  With 
his  death  last  month  the  halo'  of  sanctity  which 
encircled  his  bullet-shaped  head,  descends  upon  his 
son  and  successor,  and  also  in  a  great  measure  his 
political  influence.  Mulai  Abd-cl-Salem  was  a  direct 
lineal  descendant  of  the  Shereefian  family  of  Medina. 
The  present  Sultan,  Mulai  Hassan,  cannot  compare 
with  him  in  that  order  of  sanctity,  which  in  Islam  is 
founded  entirely   upon    the   accident  of  birth.     The 


164  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

Filcli  dynasty,  which  has  occupied  the  throne  in 
IMorocco  for  several  centuries^  can  only  claim,  though 
by  no  means,  prove  descent  through  Mulai  Edriss  to  a 
somewhat  obscure  sister  of  the  Prophet.  The  Shereefs 
or  saints  of  Wazzan,  however,  enjoy  the  supreme 
advantage  of  tracing  their  ancestry  in  an  unbroken 
line  to  the  daughter — the  beloved  Fatma — of  the 
Prophet,  and  to  AH  his  nephew,  his  favourite  and 
his  successor. 

As  the  head  of  the  great  Mahommedan  sect  of 
Maulai  Taib,  the  Grand  Shereef  of  Wazzan,  no  matter 
what  his  personal  character  may  be,  is  feared  and 
honoured  throughout  the  world,  and,  even  in  this 
prosaic  decade,  pious  pilgrims  have  come  from  the 
banks  of  the  Ganges  to  ask  the  blessing  of  the  great 
Saint  of  Islam  in  the  land  of  the  setting  sun.  The 
mail  this  very ^ui-de-sitcle  saint  receives  is  simply 
enormous,  and  I  once  saw  a  letter  addressed  to  him 
from  a  Mahommedan  Chinaman,  written  in  the  lan- 
guage of  the  flowery  kingdom,  the  translation  of 
which  baffled  even  the  pol)glot  Tangerines.  ]kit  the 
Moorish  pope — as  have  some  other  popes  —has  always 
shown  a  decided  inclination  for  temporal  rather  than 
spiritual  power,  and,  ever  since  attaining  his  majority, 
now  nearly  forty  years  ago,  the  late  Grand  Shereef 
never  overlooked  an  opportunity  to  undermine  the 
authority  of  the  reigning  dynasty.  Some  ten  )-ears 
ago  the  well-known  disaffection  and  discontent  of  the 
Shereef  with  the  prevailing  order  of  things  burst  out 
into  open  rebellion,  when  lie  instigated  the  Anghera 
tribesmen  to  revolt  against  the  Sultan. 

The  rebellion  was   suppressed   with   great   cruelty, 


CI 


(a 

St 


s; 


1 66  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

his  Majesty,  Mulai  Hassan,  taking  the  field  in  person, 
and  the  shrivelled  heads  of  hundreds  of  the  Anghera 
and  Ouedras  tribesmen  adorned  the  crates  of  manv 
a  Moorish  town  for  months.  Infuriated  with  the 
Shereef  for  his  long-continued  machinations  against 
himself  and  family,  the  Sultan  was  on  the  point  of 
attacking  him  even  in  his  holy  city  of  Wazzan,  when 
the  then  French  Minister  to  Morocco,  M.  Ordega, 
interfered  and  announced  that  the  Shereef  was  a 
protcg^  or  protected  citizen  of  France.  The  casual 
observer  would  conclude  that  an  Islam  saint,  on  assum- 
ing French  citizenship,  would  suffer  considerable  loss 
of  sanctity  and  prestige  among  his  fellows,  but  such 
is  not  the  case.  After  a  very  short  residence  in 
Morocco,  you  become  aware  of  the  fact  that  a  Shereef 
is  absolutely  infallible,  that  he  can  do  no  wrong,  that 
his  actions  arc  not  to  be  measured  by  the  cvery-day 
standards  that  are  applied  to  ordinary  mortals.  In- 
deed, the  late  Grand  Shereef  was  in  many  ways  a 
genial  trifler  with  the  tenets  of  his  faith,  and  was 
guilty  of  some  misdemeanours  that  would  have  con- 
verted any  other  Mahommcdan  into  a  perfect  pariah. 
Some  eighteen  years  ago,  fur  instance,  he  married  an 
English  lady  by  whom  he  has  two  sons  ;  but,  though 
these  Anglo- Moorish  boys  prefer  to  speak  English, 
their  appearance  anywhere  in  Morocco  suffices  to  set 
the  whole  population  in  ecstatic  rapture.  Indeed, 
the  young  Shercefs,  who  lisj)  the  JatJia  with  a 
cockney  accent,  travel  all  over  Morocco  and  enjoy 
very  large  incomes  from  the  tribute  money  and  the 
presents  which  arc  bestowed  upon  them  by  the  coun- 
try Kabylcs. 


The  Shereef  of  Wazzan. 


1 68  MOROCCO   AS    IT  IS. 

Should  the  coffin  of  the  Prophet  be  still  suspended 
between  earth  and  heaven,  I  should  think  its  equili- 
brium would  be  upset  by  Mahomet's  surprise  at  hear- 
ing his  direct  lineal  descendants  singing  the  topical 
songs  of  the  London  music-halls  as  I  have. 

I  remember  distinctly  my  first  sight  of  Mulai  Ali, 
the  eldest  of  these  Anglo-Moorish  saints.  They  were 
returning  from  a  long  pilgrimage  through  the  Zim- 
moor  country  and  the  Forest  of  Marmora,  and  were 
bringing  back  with  them  to  Tangier  some  hundred 
ponies  and  other  valuable  presents  that  the  adoring 
tribesmen  had  made  them.  Hundreds  of  the  piously 
inclined  assembled  outside  the  gates  of  the  city  and 
welcomed  Mulai  Ali  on  his  return.  He  was  mounted 
on  a  .sluggish  horse,  which  provoked  the  young  saint's 
temper  very  much.  Finally,  throwing  dignity  to  the 
winds,  he  shouted  pctulantl}',  "  Ha'ang  it,  ga  on,  ca'an't 
yer }  "  and  the  adoring  multitudes  taking  up  the  cry, 
some  hundreds  of  pilgrims  crowded  around  the 
recalcitrant  animal,  shouting  as  well  as  thc)-  could, 
"  Ha'ang  it,  ga  on,  ca'an't  yer  .''  "     Poor  Mahomet ! 

The  English  Shercefa  is  a  very  intelligent  woman. 
On  marrying  thc  Moorish  saint  she  had  the  good 
sense  to  include  in  the  marriage  contract  a  clause  to 
thc  effect  that  in  case  thc  Shcrcef  should  at  any  time 
afterwards  take  to  his  ample  bosom  a  new  wife, 
he  would  have  to  pay  her,  and  ajjain  with  each 
repetition  of  his  infidelity,  a  forfeit  of  twenty  thousand 
dollars.  After  p  lying  the  penalty  of  his  uxoriousness 
twice,  the  marriages  of  the  Shercef,  it  is  saiei,  became 
very  informal  affairs  indeed. 

Since  the   Anghera   and  Oued-Ras  rebellion,   thc 


Interior  of  Sultan's  Palace  at  Fez. 


I/O  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

Shereef  of  Wazzan  has  been  entirely  at  the  beck  and 
call  of  the  French  Foreign  Office,  and  it  is  said  that 
he  draws  a  large  pension  for  the  political  services  he 
renders  France,  and  certainly  they  are  very  con- 
siderable. In  his  photograph  he  wears  a  French  uni- 
form, and,  as  will  be  noticed,  the  Grand  Cordon  of  the 
Legion  of  Honour.  Last  spring,  when  the  Algerian 
Government  decided  to  let  the  invasion  of  the  Touat 
go  over,  or  lapse  for  a  year  or  two,  perhaps  only 
until  the  strategic  railways  in  the  Sud  Oranis  can 
be  completed,  the  Shereef  was  despatched  by 
M.  Cambon,  the  Go\ernor-General  of  Algeria,  to 
pacify  the  excited  tribesmen  who  dwell  on  the  green 
islands  of  the  Touats  and  desert.  Here  he  exercised 
undoubtedly  a  great  influence  over  the  Gourara  and 
the  Amhari  tribesmen,  and  it  is  perhaps  due  to  his 
intercession  that  we  have  heard  nothing  further  of 
the  hostility  of  the  great  chief  Bou-Amena  to  French 
encroachments.  His  influence  over  the  nomadic 
gentry  of  these  regions  is  undoubted.  They  pray 
weekly  for  him  in  their  mosques  of  woven  camel's 
hair,  and  they  never  fail  to  put  to  death  the  hated 
tax-gatherer  of  the  Sultan  who  ventures  into  their 
countr)',  and  with  the  spring-time  some  substantial 
and  spontaneous  tribute  of  their  superstitious  faith 
and  belief  always  reaches  the  Shereef  in  his  Holy 
City  of  Wazzan. 

Personally,  the  Tope  of  Mauritania  had  many 
admirable  traits.  He  was  generous  to  a  fault,  and 
succeeded  with  the  greatest  case  in  spending  yearly 
the  large  pension  the  French  Government  allowed 
him  for  his  political  services  and   the  generous  pre- 


Bringing  in  Dishes  at  bid  Ghiarnel's  Dinner. 
from  "  The  Illustrated  London  Xews,"  by  permission. 


I/-  MOROCCO  AS   IT  IS. 

sents  which  are  sent  him  by  true  believers  all  over 
the  world.  And,  indeed,  so  lavish  was  he  in  the 
spending  of  an  income  which  is  never  less  than 
20,000/.  per  annum,  that  the  Saint  of  Wazzan  some- 
times found  himself  very  "hard  up."  The  Shereef 
was  always  universally  popular  with  Europeans  in 
Tangier,  despite  the  unhappy  upshot  of  his  matri- 
monial alliance.  A  curious  story  is  told  of  how  he 
came  to  succeed  his  father,  and,  as  I  have  it  vouched 
for  on  such  good  authority,  I  will  repeat  it  here. 

Abd-el-Salem  was  one  of  the  children  of  the  late 
Shereef  by  a  poor  Houssa  negress,  a  slave  in  the 
Grand  Shereef's  harem,  as  the  Shereefs  swarthy 
complexion  and  negroid  features  betray  to  the  present 
day.  When  the  great  saint,  his  father,  came  to  die, 
there  crowded  around  his  beside  his  wives,  his  friends, 
and  his  relatives.  One  of  them  asked,  "  And  who,  O 
lord,  do  you  wish  should  succeed  you  on  the  saintly 
throne?"  The  old  man,  it  seems,  a  few  minutes 
before  had  given  his  favourite  walking-staff  to  the 
child  of  his  heart,  the  child  he  desired  to  succeed  him. 
lie  said,  "  In  the  garden  you  will  find  a  boy  playing 
with  my  staff;  upon  him  I  wish  to  see  descend  my 
Shcrecfian  mantle,  and  by  him  I  expect  to  sec  the 
glory  of  my  house  upheld."  While  the  sorrowing 
relatives  and  friends  were  awaiting  the  end  in  respect- 
ful silence,  the  Houssa  negress,  unobserved,  slipped 
out  of  the  death  chamber,  and  took  the  staff  away 
from  the  Shereefs  favourite  child,  and  gave  it  to  her 
own  offspring.  When  the  relatives  of  the  family  of 
the  late  Shereef  came  out  into  the  courtyard,  they 
found  that  the  child  of  the  Houssa  negress  was  the, 


Woman's  Day  in  the  Mosque   of  Mulai  Edriss. 
From  "  The  Illustrated  London  Xews,"  by pcriiiission. 


174  MOROCCO   .IS   IT  IS. 

son  on  whom  the  mantle  of  the  Prophet  had 
descended,  and  though  the  deception  that  had  been 
practised  was  suspected,  it  was  too  late  to  do  any- 
thing, and  so  Abd-el-Salem  came  into  the  vast  pro- 
perty and  the  saintly  prestige  of  the  man  of  whom 
his  mother  had  been  the  least  of  his  slaves. 

The  Grand  Sherccf,  who  died  very  unexpectedly 
towards  the  end  of  September,  will  be  succeeded  in 
his  apostolic  office  by  Mulai  Mahomed  El-Erbi,  the 
eldest  son  of  the  Sh^reef,  who  for  many  j-ears  has 
governed  the  Holy  City  in  the  place  of  his  father, 
who  preferred  Tangier  as  a  place  of  residence.  Mulai 
Mahomed  has  not  the  amiable  weakness  for  Europeans 
that  characterized  his  father.  He  is  a  thorough- 
going Moor,  fanatical,  and  hating  all  encroachments 
of  Western  civilization  and  commerce.  He,  unlike 
his  brother,  knows  no  language  but  Mogrebbin 
Arabic.  He  is  hospitable  to  all  strangers  who  come 
to  the  Holy  City  properly  introduced,  but  at  the 
same  time  he  is  evidently  relieved  when  they  depart. 
He  is  a  mighty  hunter,  and  spends  much  of  his  time 
pursuing  the  "  father  of  tusks"  on  the  high  hills  that 
surround  his  city.  Mulai  Mahomed  is  undoubtedly 
of  the  opinion  that  Morocco  should  belong  to  the 
Moors,  and  has  never  shown  a  decided  preference  for 
any  race  or  nation  of  the  Nesrana.  He  evidently 
dislikes  them  all.  He  is  a  handsome,  fine-looking 
man  of  five-and-thirty.  1  am  inclined  to  think  that 
his  character  is  formed,  ant!  that,  unlike  his  hapless 
father,  he  will  not  be  turned  frf)m  the  path  which  his 
conception  of  dut)'  points  out  to  him  by  foreign 
gold. 


CHAPTER    Xr. 

THE     SAINTS    AND    STUDENTS    OF    THE     KAIROUIN 

UNIVERSITY.' 

The  Sacred  Mosque  of  Western  Barbary — A  Moorish  Dick 
Whittington— Primary  education  in  profanity — The  four 
hundred  Students  assisted  by  the  Foundation — Bettel- 
studenten — Office-holders  must  be  without  education — 
History  of  Mulai  Hassan — "Self-made"  Saints  and  here- 
ditary Shereefs — Professional  etiquette  of  miracle-makers — 
Whiskey  becomes  mare's  milk — The  "gilded  youth  "  with 
sacks  of  gold  dust — Moorish  football — Amusing  stipulation 
of  the  marriage  contract — Academic  belles  of  many  gene- 
rations— The  Sultan  of  the  Tholba — The  geography  of  the 
world  as  taught  by  the  learned  Fukies — Christian  countries 
ignored — A  tournament  of  Pundits — The  green  standards 
of  the  Sulhama — Kairouin  as  a  library — The  missing 
classics — Many  manuscripts  in  the  sub-cellars  of  the  Shrine 


The  Kairouin  University  of  Fez  was  founded  by 
Fatma — not  the  beauty  of  that  name— but  a  Tunisian 
woman  from  Kairouin,  towards  the  end  of  the  ninth 
century,  or  about  fifty  years  after  Mulai  Edriss  laid 
the  corner  stone  of  the  Western  Mecca.  As  one 
looks  upon  these  crumbling  ruins,  the  three  hundred 
and  sixty   pillars  of  marble,   dragged   from  Heaven 

'  A  large  portion  of  this  chapter  appeared  in  the  October 
number  of  the  Fortnightly  Review,  and  is  here  reproduced  by 
kind  permission  of  Frank  Harris,  Esq. 


1/6  MOKOCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

knows  where,  which  arc  still  upstanding,  and  as  you 
hear  the  fanatical  cries  and  see  the  lowering,  threaten- 
ing gaze  which  invariably  greets  the  coming  of  the 
Christian  "  pig  "  to  this  classic  shade,  you  can  hardly 
realize  that  you  have  before  you  all  that  remains  of 
what  was  perhaps  generally  considered  the  greatest 
university  in  the  world  in  the  early  Middle  Ages. 

Mere,  beyond  all  manner  of  doubt,  in  the  tenth  and 
eleventh  centuries,  students  assembled  from  all  over 
the  world,  Christian  as  well  as  Mahommedan.  Those 
who  thirsted  after  knowledge  and  sought  the  "  pearls 
of  wisdom  "  at  any  price  came  here  on  their  quest 
from  the  Niger,  from  the  Congo,  from  Andalusia, 
from  Tripoli,  Tunis,  Egypt,  and  Italy  ;  and  as  is  also 
a  matter  of  absolute  history,  Englishmen,  especially 
students  of  the  science  of  the  stars,  came  to  the  Sacred 
Mosque  in  Western  Barbary.  The  Kairouin  lies  in 
the  hollow  of  the  city,  surrounded  by  bazaars  and 
the  listless  marts  of  trades,  now  only  rarely  enlivened 
by  the  arrival  of  some  considerable  caravan  from 
Taradunt  or  Timbuctoo,  or  perhaps  even  from  Upper 
Egypt  via  Tripoli  and  Insalah. 

It  occupies  an  area  of  about  ten  acres,  I  should 
say,  and  on  the  eastern  end  of  what  is  rather  a  con- 
glomeration of  mosques  than  a  single  edifice  there 
are  two  square  and  rather  ugly  minarets,  though 
beautifully  inlaid  with  tiles,  in  which  are  burned  the 
most  brilliant  colours,  at  once  the  hope  and  despair 
of  painters  of  eastern  landscapes.  In  this  mosque  of 
many  court)ards  beautiful  fountains  are  continually 
playing,  the  walls  arc  decorated  with  Salee  mattings 
and    many-coloured    haytics   embroidered     in    gold. 


THE   KAIROUIN   U^UVERSITY.  1/7 

But  perhaps  the  entrances  to  the  mosque  are  the  most 
remarkable  exterior  features.  The  huge  doors  are 
made  entirely  of  copper,,  revealing  beautiful  tracery 
of  fretwork.  Above  the  doors  are  wonderful  cedar- 
wood  carvings,  which  are  said  to  have  been  designed 
by  Geber,  the  architect  of  the  Giralda  in  Seville,  and 
the  tower  of  the  Beni-Hassan  in  Rabat.  The  floors  oi 
the  shrine  are  bare  cold  tilings,  and  the  worshippers 
generally  bring  with  them  their  prayer-rugs  to  kneel 
upon,  and — as  I  am  afraid  is  the  custom  in  other 
places  of  worship — to  sleep  upon.  The  huge  edifice, 
which  is  at  once  a  shrine,  a  universit}',  a  library,  and 
a  caravanserai,  is  always  thronged,  and  its  doors  are 
never  closed  night  or  day.  These  bare  stone  walls 
and  innumerable  moss-grown  pillars  exert  power  and 
influence  over  the  popular  mind,  and  command  a 
respect  which  the  Sultan  has  to  count  with. 

It  is  very  hard  to  describe  the  ecclesiastical  hier- 
archy that  obtains  in  the  "  western  province "  of 
Islamism,  and  in  fact  it  would  be  safer  to  say  that 
there  is  none.  The  Kairouin  Cathedral  and  Univer- 
sity is  entirely  ruled  by  the  people  who  frequent  it. 
In  its  sacred  precincts  Mahomet  is  the  only  high 
priest.  There  are,  of  course,  fukies,  or  professors, 
and  eviins,  the  faithful  ones  or  priests,  but  woe  betide 
the  priest  or  fukie  who  dared  to  address  the  most 
ragged  vagabond  of  the  fondaks,  or  a  bare-footed 
beggar  from  the  Suss  in  anything  but  terms  of  con- 
sideration and  civility.  Here  the  vagabond  and  the 
muleteer  has  as  much  right  to  loiter  and  to  learn  as 
the  wisest  pundit,  though  one  is  a  ragamuffin  and  the 
other  may  wear  a  caftan  of  green  silk  and  shroud  his 

N 


178  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

form  in  tlic  serpentine  folds  of  a  sateen  Jia'ik.  It  is 
generally  stated  and  believed  that  the  Sultan  of 
Morocco,  like  the  Czar,  is  at  once  the  temporal  and 
the  spiritual  head  of  his  people  ;  but  this  is  not  quite 
true.  Though  one  of  his  many  titles  is  that  of 
"Guardian  and  Commander  of  the  True  Believers," 
this  authority  is  very  shadowy,  at  least  as  far  as  the 
Kairouin  is  concerned,  and  the  Sultan  had  an  oppor- 
tunity of  judging  some  three  years  ago  of  the  danger 
that  might  result  from  his  interference  in  purely 
Church  government. 

For  some  reason  or  other,  he  commanded  that  the 
Mokaddum  or  chief  trustee  of  the  University — an 
office  which  has  been  hereditary  in  one  family  since 
the  death  of  the  Tunisian  Fatma — be  dismissed. 
This  was  done,  but  within  three  days  there  arose 
such  an  outcry  and  hubbub  at  the  Sultan's  attempt 
to  exercise  unwonted  authority  in  Church  matters, 
that  he  very  wisely  bethought  him  to  announce  that 
in  a  dream  the  apparition  of  his  sainted  father  had 
appeared  to  him  and  requested  him  to  reinstate  the 
Mokaddum.  The  Mokaddum  was  reinstated,  and 
the  Sultan  has  never  interfered  again  in  tho  aff.iirs  of 
the  University. 

As  I  have  said,  the  Kairouin  is  also  a  caravanserai 
and  an  inn,  in  which  arc  welcome  to  sleep  and  to  rest 
all  thosL-  who  arc  so  pocM"  as  not  to  be  able  to  pay 
the  small  copper  coin  which  the  fondak  keeper  re- 
quires before  shelter  is  given  ;  and  the  fact  that  its 
doors  are  wide  open,  and  its  hosi)itality  granted 
without  any  restriction  whatever,  is  widely  known 
throughout  the  empire. 


A  typical  Student. 
N    2 


l8o  MOROCCO  AS  IT  IS. 

The  last  time  I  entered  Fez,  some  twenty  miles 
out  of  the  city,  at  the  shrine  of  Mulai  Yaboub,  a 
young  lad  joined  us  and  made  the  day's  journey  in 
our  company.  He  was  very  ragged,  and  went  bare- 
footed, but  carried  a  beautiful  pair  of  embroidered 
slippers  in  his  hand.  He  seemed  to  be  a  Moorish 
Dick  Whittington,  and  had  walked  all  the  way  from 
Oudjda  to  seek  his  fortune  in  the  capital.  His  capital 
consisted  of  half  an  ounce  of  copper  floss  coins  worth 
about  threepence,  but  he  placed  a  very  high  value  on 
this  sum,  and  begged  to  be  allowed  to  go  along  with 
us  on  one  of  our  baggage  mules,  as  he  was  afraid  he 
would  be  robbed  in  crossing  the  famous  plain  near 
Mekinez,  so  feared  by  travellers.  We  granted  his 
request,  and  a  very  merry  companion  he  was,  and 
very  musical  with  his  double-stringed  giuirch  and 
shepherd's  pipe  of  reeds.  On  reaching  Fez,  where  he 
had  never  been  before,  he  said  he  was  going  to  sleep 
and  eat  in  the  Kairouin  until  he  decided  what  calling 
he  would  adopt,  and  seek  for  a  situation.  He  was,  it 
seemed,  quite  uncertain  whether  he  had  a  greater 
natural  bent  for  mule-driving  or  water-carrying. 
Several  times  I  met  him  afterwards  in  tiie  bazaars, 
and  on  several  occasions  he  greeted  me  effusively, 
and  once  when  we  were  unobserved  he  even  kissed 
the  hem  of  my  garment.  This  lip-service  I  was 
graciously  jiieascd  to  acknowledge  by  giving  him  a 
few  matches,  which  he  proudly  stuck  in  his  kinky 
hair.  About  a  month  later  it  dawned  upon  me  that 
owing  to  the  entree  into  the  Kairouin  which  he 
possessed  the  boy  might  become  a  useful  channel  of 
information,     liut  the  young  vagabond    now  cut  me 


THE   KAIROUIN   UNIVERSITY.  l8l 

dead.  I  passed  him  sitting  before  the  gates  of  the 
Temple,  crouching  respectfully  at  the  "  feet  of 
Gamaliel,"  who  was  represented  in  this  case  by  an 
unhealthy  and  almost  naked  saint.  He  looked  me 
squarely  in  the  eyes,  and  ignored  me  completely, 
not  seeming  to  suffer  the  slightest  embarrassment 
or  pangs  of  conscience  at  his  ungrateful  behaviour. 
His  better  nature  had  evidently  succumbed  to 
the  fanatical  atmosphere  of  the  shrine  and  to 
the  lessons  of  hatred  to  all  Christians  inculcated 
there. 

The  education  of  Morocco's  Hebe  jugend  is  very 
simple  indeed.  The  first  words  that  boys — and  girls 
too,  for  that  matter — are  taught,  are  words  of 
execration  and  of  blasphemy.  In  Tetuan,  where, 
owing  to  the  evidences  of  higher  culture  and  the 
direct  descent  of  its  inhabitants  from  the  distinguished 
families  of  the  Caliphate  of  Cordova,  better  things 
are  to  be  expected,  I  have  heard  women  on  the 
house-tops,  women  from  the  harems  of  nobles, 
shrieking  with  laughter  at  the  blasphemous  and 
sacrilegious  words  spoken  by  some  toddling  tot  of 
four  or  five  who  had  been  carefully  trained  to  afford 
them  amusement  in  this  unusual  way.  These  ex- 
hibitions of  precocious  profanity  I  could  well  under- 
stand— that  is,  viewed  from  the  Moorish  standpoint — 
if  their  object  was  always  a  Jew  or  a  Christian  ;  but 
such  is  not  the  case.  Then  at  the  age  of  five  or  six 
the  boys  are  sent  to  a  jama,  or  preliminary  school, 
where  the  old  taleeb,  by  dint  of  thrashing  and  by 
occasionally  compelling  a  more  than  usually  back- 
ward scholar  to  wear  an  enormous  dunce-cap,  goads 


1 82  MOROCCO   AS    IT  IS. 

them  into  learning  the  principal  verses  of  the  Koran. 
If  the  parents  are  wealthy,  or,  what  I  venture  to  say 
is  very  rare,  wish  that  their  offspring  should  receive 
a  higher  education,  they  are  handed  over  to  the  care 
of  a  ialeeb,  or  educated  man,  from  whom  they  acquire 
further  knowledge — or  nonsense,  as  you  may  please 
to  call  it. 

Now  we  come  to  the  work  ol  the  Kairouin 
University  properly  speaking.  If  any  roll  were  kept, 
I  should  say  there  are  about  one  thousand  students 
regularly  matriculated.  Of  these  about  four  hundred 
are  given  a  daily  pittance  of  bread  by  the  trustees  of 
the  fund  bequeathed  by  the  sainted  Fatma,  which 
has  been  held  sacred  and  remained  intact  all  through 
the  vicissitudes  of  the  civil  and  dynastic  wars  that 
have  raged  continually  for  the  last  six  hundred  years 
in  Morocco.  These  four  hundred  assisted  students 
are  recruited  by  the  village  schoolmasters  throughout 
the  empire,  and  sent  up  to  Fez  to  receive  the  "higher 
education,"  which  I  shall  endeavour  to  describe,  and 
arc  su[)portcd  by  the  funds  of  the  foundation.  These 
bcttel-studetitcn  receive  daily  aloaf  of  bread  and  a  new 
icllab  once  a  year.  They  wear  no  other  clothing  but 
the  jcllab,  under-clothing  being  (juite  l)C)'ond  their 
means  and  ideas  of  u  hat  is  proper.  They  sleep  in 
the  court-yards  of  the  moscjue.  'Jhc  most  sous^ht- 
afier  sleeping  ajjarlments  for  the  students  are  little 
vaulted  cells  called  ifia/eixas,  in  the  immediate  neigh- 
bourhood of  the  Kairouin.  Possibly  this  is  because 
the  Moorish  students  have  the  same  difficulty  as  stu- 
dents of  the  Western  world  in  persuading  themselves 
at  daybreak  that  praj'er  is  better  than    sleep.     At  all 


THE  KAIROUIN   UNIVERSITY.  1^3 

events,  if  they  have  to  go  to  chapel  they  do  not  want 
to  go  far.  But  these  medercas  can  only  be  sought 
after  with  any  hope  of  success  b}'  students  either 
possessing  a  long  purse  or  a  recognized  tendency 
towards  holy  living  as  they  understand  it.  Many  of 
the  academic  youth,  however,  succeed  in  finding 
favour  in  the  sight  of  some  merchant,  who  allows 
them  to  sleep  in  his  house,  and  to  take  a  hand — I 
mean  this  literally — in  devouring  the  family  kouscouso. 
In  return  for  these  favours  the  students  are  expected 
to  do  odd  jobs,  "chores,"  such  as  the  New  England 
students  perform  for  farmers  or  inn-keepers  in  order 
that  they  may  obtain  the  money  necessary  for  carry- 
ing on  their  University  work  during  the  winter. 

The  Kairouin  student  looks  after  the  merchant's 
mules,  keeps  his  books,  and  carries  his  turban  once  a 
week  to  be  rolled  by  [Nlouktar,  the  fashionable  hatter, 
who  has  a  shop  near  to  the  Shrine  of  ]\Iulai  Edriss, 
frequented  and  patronized  by  all  the  notables  from  the 
Grand  Vizier  downward.  These  pensioners  are  the 
only  serious  students,  if  even  they  can  be  so  called, 
that  frequent  the  University.  They  certainly  come 
under  the  denomination  of  what  Schiller  in  his  cele- 
brated Jena  address  termed  contemptuously  "  brod- 
gelehrte,"  for  they  study  only  that  they  may  receive 
some  bread-winning  position.  To  the  flames  of  the 
sacred  fire  they  are  indeed  mental  salamanders. 
They  generally  become,  after  four  or  five  years  of 
the  curriculum,  adools  or  notaries,  taleebs  or  doctors 
of  law,  or  perhaps  secretaries,  clerks  to  cadis  (judges) 
who  cannot  write.  The  higher  government  offices 
are  closed  to  them  owing  to  the  very  education  they 


184  MOROCCO  AS   IT  IS. 

have  taken  such  pains  to  obtain.  Bashaws  and  Cadis 
are  always  chosen  from  the  military  caste  or  the  local 
gentry,  the  very  men  who  have  not  even  the  smatter- 
ing of  knowledge  which  the  poor  Kairouin  students 
must  pick  up  during  the  four  or  five  years  they  hang 
about  the  venerable  foundation.  Every  government 
position  is  awarded  to  the  highest  bidder,  and  the 
happy  office-holders  are  expected,  like  the  nominees 
of  the  late  Boss  Tweed,  to  "  work  "  their  office  for  all 
its  worth,  and  to  send  nine-tenths  of  the  profits  to 
Fez  to  be  presented  to  the  Sultan  or  the  Vizier,  who 
may  happen  to  be  the  chief  of  their  particular  depart- 
ment. Should  the  office-holder  be  not  as  are  the 
children  of  Mammon,  he  will  enjoy  his  office-holding 
distinction  a  very  short  time  indeed.  Of  course  the 
Sultan  does  occasionally  yield  to  what  is  at  first  sight 
an  impulse  or  a  yearning  for  better  things,  and  does 
give  a  valuable  post  to  a  man  without  exacting  a 
large  advance  payment ;  but  it  is  generally  found,  I 
regret  to  say,  that  the  discerning  eye  of  the  Scedna 
has  discovered  in  his  nominee  predatory  instincts, 
and  a  slumbering  rapacity  which  has  only  awaited 
an  opportunity  to  show  itself.  Some  of  the  other 
"  brodgelchrte "  gradually  succeed  their  professors 
in  the  posts  to  which  the  Mokaddum  and  the  trustees 
of  the  f(junclation  appoint  them.  Some,  those  for 
choice  who  wield  an  ornate  pen  and  command  a  flow 
of  complimentary  and  eulogistic  language,  get  ap- 
pointments as  attacltL^s  to  the  Corps  of  Historians 
who  follow  the  Sultan's  every  movement,  catch  his 
most  insignificant  word,  and  once  a  week  submit  to 
his  inspection  the  beautiful  writings  and   illuminated 


THE    KAIROUIN    UNIVERSITY.  1 85 

missals  in  which  are  chronicled  the  doings  and  say- 
ings of  their  lord  for  the  past  seven  days.  These 
beautifully-bound  volumes  when  completed  are  care- 
fully placed  in  the  Kairouin  library  to  serve  as  docu- 
ments to  the  history  of  Morocco,  ay,  as  the  Sultan 
doubtless  fondly  imagines,  of  the  world.  The  history 
of  the  present  ruler,  Mulai  Hassan,  has  reached  the 
six  hundredth  volume.  Wisest,  indeed,  are  those 
students  who  "  take  to  religion,"  and  gradually  set 
themselves  up  in  the  "saint  business."  Of  course, 
for  this  purpose  it  is  very  advantageous  to  be  con- 
nected with  a  saint,  to  have  Shereefian  blood  flowing 
in  your  veins,  or  even  to  be  descended,  or,  what  is 
about  the  same  thing,  to  claim  unchallenged  descent 
from  some  well-known  marabout,  or  one  of  the  Sul- 
hama,  a  term  which  in  Morocco  is  not  applied  to  all 
the  militant  apostles  of  Mahomet,  but  exclusively  to 
the  conquerors  of  the  "  Western  province."  But,  if 
these  claims  cannot  be  proved,  or  if  the  pretensions 
of  the  holy  man  in  embryo  are  not  received  with 
favour,  the  resources  of  the  Moorish  religion  in  the 
manufacture  of  saints  are  not  by  any  means  exhausted. 
In  Morocco  the  Church,  like  the  communal  govern- 
ment of  the  Kabyles,  is  the  essence  of  pure  demo- 
cracy, and,  throwing  pretensions  of  pride  and  holy 
descent  to  the  winds,  the  clever  student,  weary  of  the 
misere  of  his  academic  career,  can  with  patience  and 
long-suffering  become  a  "  self-made  saint,"  and  rise 
to  a  proud  and  lucrative  position  by  his  own  exer- 
tions. The  apprenticeship  to  this  profession  is  not, 
of  course,  by  any  means  the  most  delightful  way  of 
spending  your  time  between  the  years  of  twenty-five 


I  86  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

and  thirty-five.  In  Morocco  the  odour  of  sanctity  is 
not  a  pleasant  atmosphere  to  dwell  in.  Still  the 
rewards  are  dazzling,  and  indeed  they  are  the  only 
solid  and  substantial  rewards,  safe  from  the  whim 
and  caprice  of  Bashaw  and  Sultan,  that  are  to  be 
reaped  by  the  children  of  men  in  Morocco.  For  a 
few  years  the  aspirant  must  content  himself  with  the 
most  meagre  fare.  Me  must  content  himself  with 
taking  his  food  at  the  table  d'hote  of  Fortune.  He 
must  allow  his  hair  and  beard  to  grow  untrimmcd. 
He  must  discard  all  clothing,  and  carefully  cultivate 
and  encourage  any  inclination  to  skin  disease  that  he 
may  be  so  fortunate  as  to  inherit  or  develop  by  his 
life  during  his  zvandcrja/ire.  He  must  abuse  his 
person  in  the  most  brutal  manner,  bang  his  head 
against  stone  walls,  until  so  callous  does  it  become 
that  he  can  cleave  it  with  an  axe  without  so  much  as 
winking.  Then  the  aspiring  saint,  who  will  h\'  these 
exploits  and  this  manner  of  life  have  won  quite  a 
reputation  as  a  holy  man,  generally  retires  from  the 
world  to  some  place  suitable  for  a  shrine  on  the  out- 
skirts of  a  rich  and  superstitious  i)rovincc.  He  here 
sets  himself  up  by  the  entrance  of  a  cave,  or  un«.ier  the 
shade  of  a  splendid  olive  or  ile.x  tree  for  choice  ;  the 
country  people  minister  to  his  wants,  which  at  first 
arc  simple.  As  he  feels  himself  firmly  started  as  a 
saint,  his  simple  wants  expand,  and  he  becomes  more 
difficult  to  please.  TIk  c<.uiitiy  people  readily  accept 
the  situation  and  give  him  his  tithes,  paying  him 
ro)all)'  for  the  blessings  he  bestows  on  their  flocks 
and  their  fields,  or  for  his  condescension  in  laying 
his  holy  hand  upon  their  .sick  and  diseased.      In  time 


A  Minaret  of  tlie  Kairouin. 


1 88  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

the  country  people,  generally  with  very  slight  provo- 
cation, become  ardent  believers  in  the  prowess  and 
miracle-making  power  of  their  own  particular  and 
local  saint  ;  and  as  we  in  England  sometimes  pit  our 
local  pugilists  against  each  other  in  a  mill  to  decide 
which  is  the  best  man,  so  the  Kab}-les  sometimes 
bring  their  saints  together  for  a  tourney  in  working 
wonders  ;  but  the  miracle-makers,  it  would  seem,  like 
other  more  civilized  impostors,  have  a  professional 
etiquette  of  their  own,  and  always  succeed  in  hood- 
winking the  sinners  without  in  any  way  impairing 
their  prestige.  The  faith  of  the  Kabylcs  is  too  un- 
thinking and  too  considerate  to  ever  subject  them  to 
the  rude  surprise  that  overtook  the  unhappy  bishop, 
who,  according  to  the  Magj'ar  legend,  while  preaching 
to  an  assembly  of  Huns  on  the  Blocksberg  by  Buda, 
was  suddenly  thrown  over  the  mountain  in  order,  as 
his  benevolent  murderers  contended,  that  he  might 
be  given  an  opportunity  of  showing  that  he  was  as 
good  a  man  as  any  of  the  rest  of  the  apostles — and 
could  fly. 

The  saint,  once  formally  established,  lives  in  lazi- 
ness and  luxury,  and  bequeathes  his  bones  to  his 
progeny — generally  a  very  numerous  one,  for,  though 
the  saints  generally  live  ignorant  of  wine,  their 
rtcquaintance  with  women  is  invariably  cjuitc  an 
extended  one.  The  fortunate  progeny  form  them- 
selves into  a  company,  and  build  for  their  saintly 
ancestor  a  tomb  in  a  "simple  inex[)ensive  "  mosque, 
that  they  erect  generally  on  the  very  spot  which  he 
hallowed  for  years  in  the  exercise  of  his  saintly  func- 
tions.     In  rotation  tin:  relatives  stand   at   watch  over 


THE   KAIROUIN   UNIVERSITY.  I  89 

the  tomb,  and  take  gate-money  from  all  who  enter 
the  mosque,  and,  if  the  saint  was  widely  known,  his 
bones  generally  bring  in  to  the  family  a  fat  living  for 
generations.  Perhaps  the  most  pleasing  thing  about 
the  saint  business  in  Morocco  is  that,  however  prone 
you  maybe  to  backsliding,  you  cannot  fall  from  grace 
however  much  you  may  want  to  ;  clerical  vagaries 
which  in  other  worlds  and  in  other  religions  would 
call  forth  condign  punishment,  are  always  lightly 
regarded  by  the  Moorish  public  and  accorded  plenary 
indulgence.  A  saint  cannot  commit  a  sin.  There  is 
at  least  one  saint  in  Morocco  whom  I  have  time  and 
again  seen  in  a  state  of  intoxication  only  to  be 
accounted  for  by  his  well-known  indulgence  in 
alcoholic  beverages.  I  have  even  pointed  him  out  to 
his  worshippers  as  the  contents  of  a  whiskey  bottle 
went  gurgling  down  his  throat,  but  they  only  smiled 
at  my  ignorance,  and  treated  the  petty  malice  of  my 
remarks  with  pity  and  contempt. 

"  It  is  very  true,"  they  said,  "  the  saint  is  drinking 
whiskey,  but  he's  such  a  holy  man  that  the  moment 
the  exciting  liquid  reaches  his  throaty  by  contact  with 
his  holy  person  it  immediately  becomes  innocent 
mare's  milk."  Who  would  not  be  a  saint  in 
Morocco?  But,  of  course,  the  great  majority  of  the 
students  return  to  their  native  villages,  where  they 
enjoy  a  reputation  for  erudition,  and  convert  their 
knowledge  into  the  copper  coin  of  the  realm. 

In  addition  to  the  "  brodgelehrte/^  whose  careers 
I  have  endeavoured  to  describe,  there  come  every 
year  to  Fez  some  four  or  five  hundred  other  young 
men  to  attend  lectures  at  the  Kairouin  in  a  desultory 


190  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

way.  They  do  not  matriculate,  are  very  casual  i  n  their 
attendance,  and  come  very  much  under  the  category 
of  the  foreigners  who  frequent  Heidelberg  and  Bonn 
as  aiiserordcntUcJic  horer.  They  are  the  sons  of  high 
Government  functionaries,  or  of  Taradunt  and  Tafilet 
merchants  suddenly  enriched  by  some  successful 
slave  or  salt  caravan  excursion  to  Timbuctoo  ;  and 
then  there  is  generally  a  Mahommedan  princclet  or 
two  from  the  Niger  delta,  who  has  been  sent  by  his 
fond  parents  to  the  fascinating  city  of  many  fountains 
and  of  many  pleasures  to  fashion  his  manners, 
broaden  his  mind,orjctersao^our//ie,  the  peculiar  folly 
of  fond  parents  all  the  world  over.  These  wealthy 
students  bring  with  them  frequently  their  harems  and 
major-domos,  and  attendant  slaves  carrying  their 
sacks  of  gold-dust.  They  have  secret  and  masonic 
societies,  very  much  after  the  fashion,  I  dare  say,  of 
the  D.K.E.  at  Harvard,  or  the  "  Skull  and  Bones  "  at 
Yale  ;  but  I  must  say,  to  their  credit,  I  never  heard 
it  ever  charged  against  them  that  they  convened  to 
debate  on  literary  or  historic  subjects,  or  wrote 
essays  on  the  cardinal  virtues. 

Thcjhinessc  done  of  the  Morocco  Universities  take 
their  pleasures,  apparently  at  least,  very  sadly.  They 
never  awaken  the  slumbering  echoes  of  Vcv.  with 
merry  student  song.s.  They  have  the  stately  deport- 
ment of  Venetian  notables,  and  many  of  them  the 
girlh  of  bishops.  They  have  only  one  field  sport, 
which  they  do  not  indulge  in  very  frec|uently.  Tt 
bears  a  ludicrous  resemblance  to  football.  They 
choose  a  field  about  a  hundred  yards  long,  and  make 
narrow  goals  at  each  end.     Then  a  wooden  or  a  rope 


THE   KAIROUIN    UNIVERSITY.  I9I 

ball  is  thrown  in  their  midst,  which  they  kick  about 
most  dexterously.  How  they  succeed  in  doing  it 
without  kicking  off  their  babosJias  or  slippers  is  a 
mystery ;  but  this  misadventure,  naturally  to  be 
expected,  I  never  witnessed.  They  do  not  seem  to 
divide  into  sides,  but  every  man  seems  to  play  on  his 
own  hand,  or  rather  with  his  own  foot.  If  he  cannot 
kick  the  ball  through  one  goal — inshalah  ! — he  will 
try  to  kick  it  through  the  other. 

But,  generally,  they  spend  their  time  in  drinking 
mint  tea,  anointing  themselves  with  vile  scents, 
smoking  keef  in  large  quantities,  wearing  rich  silk 
caftans  embroidered  in  crying  colours  very  much 
after  the  custom  of  our  own  Hebe  jiigend  of  wearing 
many-coloured  waistcoats,  and  the  academic  day  is 
invariably  concluded  with  a  prodigious  spread  ot 
koiiscous. 

If  they  study  nothing  else,  it  must  be  said  they  do 
set  themselves  seriously  and  conscientiously  to  the 
study  of  women,  the  root  of  all  evil,  perhaps,  but 
surely  the  root,  branch  and  tree-top  of  all  know- 
ledge. In  this  pursuit  they  are  greatly  facilitated  by 
the  lax  divorce  laws  which  obtain  in  Fez.  I  hope  the 
reader  has  not  misunderstood  me — these  academic 
studies  of  femininity  are  always  carried  on  well  within 
the  strict  bonds  of  matrimony.  Only  after  a  week's 
research — if  it  seem  to  the  student  that  the  study  is 
not  a  congenial  one,  or  one  not  likely  to  repay  the 
expenditure  of  energy  required — he  puts  his  wife  of  a 
week  away  and  takes  a  new  one,  always,  as  I  say, 
under  the  shelter  of  the  law.  An  amusing  stipula- 
tion  always  inserted    in    these    academic    marriages 


192  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

reads  to  the  effect  that,  when  the  student  leaves  Fez 
with  a  siunina  cum  laudc — or  without  it — in  his 
saddle  bags,  the  wife  cannot  be  compelled  to  follow 
him  ;  also  that  his  absence  from  Fez  at  any  time,  for 
a  period  of  any  length,  dissolves  the  marriage  without 
any  further  proceedings.  This  strange  custom  has 
grown  up  owing  to  the  \ery  natural  reluctance  of  the 
Fazzi  women  to  leave  the  gay  capital,  to  change  the 
luxurious  life  on  the  house-tops  of  Fez  for  a  mule- 
back  ambling  hither  and  thither  on  the  burning  sands 
of  the  Sahara.  I  never  heard  of  one  of  these  student 
wives  following  her  lord  and  master  to  his  southern 
home.  They  very  much  resemble  the  griseties  of  the 
Ouartier  Latin,  I  never  heard  of  a  student  at  the 
Beaux  Arts  carrying  off  in  triumph  to  his  distant 
home  an  etudiayite  of  the  Rue  de  Seine. 

One  of  these  belles  of  the  academic  youth,  with  her 
eyes  encircled  with  kohl  and  her  fingers  tipped  with 
henna,  was  once  pointed  out  to  me.  She  was  a  tall, 
finely-built  woman,  and  had  that  great  beauty  which 
the  Italian  proverb  commends  and  extols  as  the 
greatest  beauty  of  woman — una  bella  andatnra.  She 
was  clothed  in  a  rich  Jia'ik,  which  revealed  the  grace- 
ful outlines  of  a  lithe  and  active  figure.  I  could  well 
understand,  even  under  the  disadvantages  of  meeting 
licr  in  her  street  costume,  the  charms  for  which  she 
was  famous.  I  was  told  that  her  looks  had  been 
the  only  books  of  a  succession  of  students  for 
the  past  ten  years — one  after  another  these  poor 
fellows,  when  their  gold-dust  was  exhausted,  had 
gone  southward  to  their  homes,  to  begin  the  serious 
business  of  life,  while  she  stayed  on  and   lived  and 


THE   KAIROUIX    UXIVEJRSITY.  1 93 

loved  in  the  shadow  of  the  holy  shrine.     Knowing 
that  as  a  Christian  I  should  be  debarred  from  enter- 
ing the  lists,  I  put  Salem  El  Sheshouani,  my  faithful 
and  particular  boy,  on  her  track,   for   the  purpose  of 
getting  out  of  her  what  information  I  could  as  to  the 
lives  of  the  academic  youth.     I  have  every  reason  to 
believe  that  Salem  executed  my  commission,  which 
he  entered   upon  with   enthusiasm,  with  more  than 
his    customary   thoroughness    and    despatch.       The 
next  day   he    came  to    me  for  money   to  buy  the 
"  lady  "  a  pair  of  embroidered  boots.     On  the  follow- 
ing day  he  wanted  a  Breber  anklet  for  the  fair  one  ; 
but  the  only  information   about  her  life  I  succeeded 
in  extracting  in  return  was  that  he  found  her  "  muy 
bonita"    (very  pretty).      As    I  became   insistent  he 
said  she  was  "  one  nice  lady  woman,"  and  then   the 
confession    wrung    from    him    with    great    difficulty, 
that  he  liked  her  very  much— "bezoff,  bezoff !  "  (Very 
much,  very   much).     The  fervour  which  Salem   put 
into  that   word   "  bezoff,"    the  flash   of  the  eye  that 
accompanied  it,  would  have  carried   him   far  on  the 
operatic  stage  as  a  tenore  robusto. 

Towards  the  end  of  May  the  students  requisition 
tents  from  the  Grand  Vizier,  and,  leaving  their  lowly 
abodes  in  the  city,  go  into  camp,  generally  on  the 
banks  of  the  Fez,  near  the  Sultan's  gardens.  Here 
a  fortnight  is  spent  in  very  serious  fooling.  To 
supply  the  indispensable,  deputations  of  students 
march  through  the  town  from  door  to  door,  assessing 
every  inhabitant  according  to  his  means,  so  that,  at 
least  during  their  summer  outing,  they  may  all  have 
plenty  of  sheep  kous-cous-o  and  mint  tea. 

O 


194 


MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 


Extravagant  tales  are  told  of  the  mad  antics  they 
perform  during  their  vacation,  and  I  have  heard  it 
asserted  that  these  grave  and  reverend  seigneurs  of 
sixteen  to  twenty  even  condescend  to  play  at  leap- 
frog and  turn  "hand-springs.  But,  in  all  fairness,  I 
must  say  that  I  have   never  seen  them  so  engaged 


MOUnirAINS 


MOUNTAr.n 


THE    WE.ST 


MOUNTAINi 


'  T/U    MeOITf^KAIneAlt 
SIA 


MOUNTAINS 


MAP    oi  IHt    WOHLO 
*%  utio   uy  TNI 

UNIVERSITY   or,  FtZ 


Rtfiroduccd/rotit  "  The  Fortnightly  Kevicw,"  by  kind permisiion  oj 
/•'rank  /fitrrii,  lisq. 

myself,  and,  if  I  did,  I  should  feel  very  much  inclined 
to  discredit  my  eyesight. 

On  going  into  camp  the  students,  by  popular  vote, 
elect  one  of  their  number  "  Sult;in  of  the  Tholba," 
and  as  long  as  they  remain  under  canvas  his  sway  is 
as  undisputed  as  the  word  of  the  "Caliph  of  the 
Lord  enthroned  on  high,"  the  great  Seedna  himself. 
I  iiavc  been  told  that  the  corruption   and  the  briber)' 


THE  KAIROUIN   UNIVERSITY.  195 

practised  at  these  elections  far  surpass  anything 
known  even  in  more  democratic  countries  where  the 
ballot  has  a  regularly  quoted  market  value.  On 
several  occasions  of  late  years  the  Sultan  has  visited 
the  encampment,  and  conferred,  with  mock  serious- 
ness, with  "  his  brother,"  the  Sultan  of  the  Tholba, 
on  matters  of  State  as  well  as  of  academ  ic  interest. 
I  made  every  effort  to  cultivate  the  acquaintance 
of  the  Tholba,  and,  after  experiencing  many  a  rebuff, 
became  fast  friends  with  three  or  four  of  their  number, 
who,  under  cover  of  darkness,  would  come  to  my 
garden  and  discourse  learnedly  upon  the  greatness 
of  their  University.  At  last  I  succeeded  in  inducing 
them  to  bring  some  of  their  text-books  with  them,  and 
many  a  long  night  session  we  spent  in  discussing  their 
merits,  and  in  comparing  them  with  the  educational 
works  of  Christendom.  It  was  in  one  of  these  night 
sessions,  greatly  prolonged  owing  to  my  small  supply 
of  Arabic,  that  I  stumbled  upon  the  geography  con- 
taining the  map  of  the  world  of  which  the  illustration 
on  p.  194  is  a  fac-simile  copy.  This  learned  work 
was  written  some  fifty  years  ago  by  a  learned  pundit 
who  had  travelled  to  Mecca,  and  was  a  Lord  Pilgrim 
as  well  as  fiikie.  I  do  not  believe  there  is  a  student 
or  a  professor  attached  to  the  University  that  has 
any  misgivings  in  his  mind  but  what  this  map 
is  a  perfectly  correct  representation  of  the  world  in 
which  he  lives.  Englishmen,  who  do  not  as  a  rule 
suffer  in  any  great  numbers  from  the  modern  disease 
of  self-contempt,  and  are  generally  found  to  have  a 
just  appreciation  of  the  magnitude  of  the  empire  on 
which  the  sun  never  sets,  will   regret  to  learn   that 

O  2 


196  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

one  of  the  infinitel}-  small  inlands  in  the  ocean  south 
of  Thibet  was  thought  by  my  Tholb  to  represent 
very  fairh-  the  geographical  situation  and  importance 
of  England. 

*'  That,  I  suppose,  is  Ireland,"  I  said,  pointing  out 
the  adjacent  sister  island. 

"Where  is  Ireland?  What  is  Ireland.?  I  never 
heard  of  Ireland,"  replied  the  Tholb,  shaking  his  head 
dubiously. 

I  saw  then  that  I  was  confronted  with  an  instance 
of  where  ignorance  is  truly  something  very  nearly 
akin  to  bliss.  Spain,  it  will  be  noticed,  is  mentioned 
by  name  on  the  map — an  honour  accorded  to  but 
one  other  Christian  country.  Tiiis  is  doubtless 
because  the  Iberian  peninsula  is  a  large  and  un- 
deniable geographical  fact  in  plain  view  of  the 
northern  coast  of  the  "  W^estern  Province."  Why 
Russia  is  the  only  other  Christian  country  having 
the  honour  of  mention  I  can  only  explain  on  the 
ground  that,  as  that  country  never  bothers  the  Sultan 
with  missions  and  embassies,  the  Moors  are  corre- 
spondingly grateful. 

I  found  it  very  difficull,  in  fact  almost  impossible, 
to  get  any  clear  idea  of  the  curriculum  followed  at 
the  University.  There  are  certainly  distinct  faculties 
of  ecclesiastical  and  of  civil  law  (the  Shraa),  and 
there  arc  very  many  lectures  on  astrology,  for  to 
this  basest  variety  of  science  the  descendants  of  the 
great  Arabian  astronomers  have  come.  Then  there  arc 
always  going  on  learned  discjuisitions  on  the  Bokliari, 
a  scries  of  holy  volumes  that  o  cupy  the  same  posi- 
tion to  Islam  as  the  Talmud  docs  to  Jewry  ;  also 


THE   KAIROUIN   UNIVERSITY.  1 9/ 

courses  in  higher  mathematics,  and  in  alchemy  and 
divination,  I  must  say  that  the  Tholba  whom  I  met 
showed  remarkable  quickness  in  solving  mathe- 
matical problems  which  were  far  beyond  my  depth. 

With  this  meagre  information,  the  knowledge  I 
gathered  with  such  difficulty  regarding  the  Kairouin 
as  an  educational  centre  is  quite  exhausted.  When 
I  left  the  holy  city  a  great  tournament  of  learned 
men  and  pundits  was  announced  to  come  off  shortly, 
and  I  certainly  would  have  remained  to  witness  the 
proceedings  if  there  had  been  any  chance  of  my  being 
permitted  to  assist  at  their  sessions.  Wise  and 
learned  pundits,  the  intellectual  giants  of  Mauritania, 
were  coming  from  Tlemcen,  Mazagran,  and  Marakesh, 
to  discuss  with  imperturbable  gravity  the  large  ques- 
tion as  to  whether  the  earth  revolves  around  the  sun 
or  vice  versa. 

As  a  hot-bed  of  fanaticism  and  a  never- failing  well 
of  religious  feeling,  volumes  might  be  written  about 
the  Kairouin.  In  case  there  be  any  truth  in  the 
rumours  which  are  continually  appearing  in  the 
political  press  of  Europe,  to  the  effect  that  one  or 
more  of  the  European  powers  are  on  the  point  of 
annexing  this  much-coveted  and  very  desirable 
country,  it  would  be  well  for  these  statesmen  to 
pause  and  count  well  the  cost  before  entering  upon 
an  enterprise  which,  if  undertaken,  will  be  certainly 
costly.  They  should  take  note  of  the  great  renais- 
sance of  fanatical  feeling  in  African  Islam  in  the 
past  decade,  due  partly  to  the  successes  of  the  INIahdi 
in  the  Eastern  Soudan,  and  partly  to  the  wonderful 
growth  of  the    Senussi    brotherhood  throughout   the 


198  MOROCCO   AS    IT  IS. 

Dark  Continent,  and  the  extraordinary  power  which 
the  Senussi  Mahdi  himself,  from  his  seat  in  Southern 
Tripoh",  exercises  throughout  Northern  Africa. 
There  is  no  doubt  in  my  mind  that,  the  next  time 
Morocco  declares  hostilities  against  any  Christian 
power,  the  green  standard  of  the  Prophet  and  the 
Sulhama,  now  carefully  guarded  in  the  Kairouin,  will 
be  unfurled,  and  a  holy  war  proclaimed  with  far- 
reaching  consequences,  that  it  is  difficult,  in  fact  im- 
possible, to  estimate  in  advance. 

After  having  experienced  some  rather  severe 
snubbing,  I  succeeded  in  entering  upon  relations 
with  several  of  the  fiikics  or  professors  of  the 
ancient  foundation.  When  I  met  them  in  the 
bazaars,  in  reply  to  my  Catholic  "  Peace  be  with 
you,"  they  would,  with  characteristic  narrow-minded- 
ness, reply,  "  Peace  be  unto  all  true  believers!' 
Finally,  however,  I  succeeded  in  luring  them  also 
to  my  encampment.  They  drank  my  tea,  carefully 
guarding  their  garments  and  their  persons  as  much 
as  possible  from  coming  into  defiling  contact  with 
their  Christian  host.  When  I  showed  them  the  New 
Testament,  and  reminded  them  that  in  the  Koran 
they  arc  expressly  commanded  to  read  the  life  of 
Seedna  Aissi  (the  Lord  Jesus)  and  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles,  they  positively  shuddered.  When  at  last 
they  found  speech,  they  said  they  were  cjuite  willing 
to  do  that,  but  unfortunately  wicked  men  among 
the  Kaffirs  had  laid  impious  hands  on  the  good 
book,  and  that  its  meaning  had  been  very  much 
distorted  and  its  precepts  perverted,  since  the  days 
of  the  Prophet. 


THE   KAIROUIN   UNIVERSITY.  1 99 

I  then  offered  to  place  them  in  possession  of  a 
Greek  Testament,  and  of  an  EngHsh  one  for  com- 
parative study  of  the  translation,  but  as  they  neither 
had  the  EngHsh  nor  the  Greek  at  their  disposal  , 
and  evidently  did  not  care  a  rushlight  one  way  or 
the  other  about  it,  my  offer  came  to  nothing.  So 
the  Fukies  went  their  way  of  ignorance  and  dark- 
ness, in  which  they  delight,  after  a  stately  leave- 
taking,  and  though  they  had  quaffed  my  tea  and 
partaken  of  my  sweets,  their  parting  salutation  was 
still  the  un-CathoHc  "  Peace  be  to  all  true  believers." 

But,  perhaps,  it  is  as  a  library  and  a  great  deposi- 
tory of  ancient  writings  that  the  Kairouin  excites 
interest  and  curiosity  rather  than  from  the  other 
points  of  view  which  I  have  here  dwelt  upon. 

It  has  been  thought,  or  rather,  more  correctly 
speaking,  only  fondly  hoped,  by  the  learned  men 
throughout  Christendom,  that  among  the  rubbishy 
chronicles  of  the  Kairouin  there  would  some  day 
be  found  the  missing  classics,  the  lost  books  of 
Euclid  and  of  Livy,  among  others.  Indeed  in  some 
of  the  more  ancient  books  of  travel  on  Morocco  it 
is  expressly  stated  that  many  of  the  manuscripts 
that  were  saved  from  the  burning  of  the  Alexandrian 
Library  were  taken  to  Seville,  Granada,  and  Fez. 
In  weighing  these  statements  I  think  it  should  bs 
remembered  that  the  Kairouin  was  founded  at  the 
very  least  one  hundred  years  after  the  fire  that  was 
so  disastrous  to  learning,  and  that  these  manuscripts 
would  have  had  a  lot  of  knocking  about  before  they 
found  a  home  on  the  shelves  in  the  subterranean 
cellars  of  the  Kairouin.     I  think  it  possible  that  on 


200  MOROCCO  AS   IT  IS. 

leaving  Seville  and  Granada  the  Moors  may  have 
brought  with  them  to  Morocco  many  of  the  precious 
volumes  which  are  known  to  have  been  in  these 
libraries,  but  which  have  now  disappeared.  For  the 
last  fifty  years  it  has  been  the  effort  of  every  European 
minister  accredited  to  Morocco  to  obtain  some  in- 
formation regarding  these  treasures,  but  the  Sultan 
has  always  sturdily  asserted  that  there  were  no 
books  at  all  in  the  Kairouin,  or  that  they  had 
crumbled  into  dust  from  age  long  centuries  before. 
My  inquiries,  though  hardly  in  a  measure  commen- 
surate with  the  labour  and  amount  of  time  expended, 
were  certainly  more  successful.  There  can  be  no 
two  opinions  as  to  the  presence  of  a  very  large 
number  of  ancient  manuscripts  in  the  Kairouin 
Library,  and  these  volumes — a  creditable  thing  for 
the  lazy  and  indolent  Moors — are  certainly  the 
object  of  very  great  care.  The  trustees  of  the 
Kairouin  have  a  regular  staff  of  custodians  chosen 
from  the  University  professors  and  teachers,  who 
arc  charged  with  the  safe  keeping  of  the  books  ; 
and  the  cellars  are  annually  inspected,  and  the 
books  repaired  when  the  necessity  arises.  I  should 
say  that,  bar  accidents  of  fire,  in  the  future,  when 
the  library  is  thrown  open,  the  manuscripts  will  be 
found  in  a  very  fair  state  of  preservation. 

Upon  ancjlher  p(jint  my  informants  all  agreed. 
They  said  that  in  the  library  there  arc  quite  a  num- 
ber of  books  written  in  strange  unknown  tongues. 
Gcncrall)',  my  genial  Tholba  friends  asserted,  they 
were  written  in  Greek  ;  but  on  my  showing  them  a 
book  in  German,  they  were  unanimously  of  opinion 


Court -yards  of  Kairouin. 
Snap-shots  with  a  Camera. 


202  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

that  this  was  the  language  in  which  the  volumes  were 
written.  So  I  am  forced  to  the  conclusion  that  any- 
writing  which  is  not  Arabic  is  Greek  to  the  Fukies 
and  Tholba  of  Fez. 

I  was  devising  a  scheme,  and  planning  to  get  into 
the  closely  guarded  cellars  under  the  sanctuary, 
where  the  books  are  kept,  and  having  a  look  at  the 
volumes  myself ;  when,  misled  by  the  unscrupulous 
lies  that  were  circulated  by  the  emissaries  of  other 
powers,  the  Fazzi  suddenly  assumed  an  attitude  of 
such  hostility  to  the  English  Mission  and  the  other 
foreigners  in  Fez,  on  a  friendly  footing  with  its  mem- 
bers, that  wc  had  quite  enough  adventures  and  fights 
forced  upon  us  as  we  rode  quietly  through  the  city, 
without  running  the  risk  of  surreptitiously  explor- 
ing the  Kairouin. 

Prevented  from  investigating  the  library  with  my 
own  eyes,  I,  however,  succeeded  in  getting  hold  of 
some  of  the  manuscripts.  I  suppose  I  ought  to  blush 
at  the  recital,  but  I  was  forced  to  bribe  my  friends, 
the  Tholba,  to  steal  the  volumes  for  me.  During  the 
last  ten  days  of  my  stay  in  Fez  they  purloined  from 
the  shelves  of  the  library  some  thirty  manuscripts, 
and  brought  them  to  me  hidden  awa)'  in  the  capa- 
cious folds  of  \}[n:\r  jclaabs.  Unfortunately,  however, 
they  had  neither  time  nor  the  knowledge  to  steal  with 
discrimination  ;  so  the  books  they  brought  me  were 
of  comparatively  sinall  value,  and  1  had  them  all  re- 
placed, with  four  or  five  exceptions.  I  kept  a  very 
beautifully  illuminated  edition  of  the  Hokh.iri,  bound 
at  Seville,  several  volumes  of  amatory  poetry,  written 
in  the  thirteenth  century,  I    believe,  and    a    long  and 


THE   KAIROUIN   UNIVERSITY.  203 

very  prosy  account  of  a  pilgrimage  to  Mecca,  made 
by  a  Fukie  of  Fez  in  the  fifteenth  century.  I,  how- 
ever, failed  to  get  hold  of  any  of  the  manuscripts, 
which,  as  the  Tholba  assert,  are  written  in  "  Greek." 

I  feel  quite  incapable  of  conveying  by  mere  words 
the  condescension,  the  pity  and  the  contempt  which 
the  Moors  of  the  University  class  have  for  our  achieve- 
ments in  every  branch  of  knowledge.     They  are  just 
as  firmly  convinced  of  their  immeasurable  superiority 
as  is  the  Sultan  that  his  army  is  the  most  magnificent 
fighting  machine  in  the  world.     The   learned  Fukies 
and  the  wise    Tholbas  of  the  Kairouin    regard    our 
universities    as  puny,  struggling  schools,  where  for- 
tunately only  false  knowledge  and  the  black  arts  are 
taught.     The  following  anecdote  I  consider  character- 
istic  of  their   views.      One   evening  several    of  the 
Tholbas  had  been  drinking  tea  with  me  in  my  garden, 
and,  in  the  course  of  a  rather  Ollendorfian  conversation 
which  took  place  on  these  occasions,  I  spoke  of  two 
of  the    members  of  the    Mission.     "  One  is  a  great 
military  caid,"   I   said,   "  and   the  other  a  very   wise 
man  ;  a  tabeeb  [a  doctor]  and  a  taleeb  [a  learned  man 
of  law]  in  one."     As  my  guests  departed  I  heard  one 
of  them    say   to   the    other,   "  What    an    awful    lie ! 
There  are  no  great  caids  or  learned  men  outside  of 
Morocco."     "  Of  course  there  are  not,"  replied   the 
other  wise  man,  laughing  at  my  attempt   to  impose 
upon  their  superior  knowledge  of  the  world. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

FROM  FEZ  TO  FLEET  STREET. 

Refused  credit  by  our  Fez  banker — The  forced  sale  of  our  rifles 
— A  blessing  in  disguise — Veuve  Cliquot  and  her  burden 
— The  phial  of  Mcphistophelcs — A  ghastly  exhibition — 
Tlie  Sultan's  Emin — The  call  to  prayer — A  night  with 
scorpions  and  centipedes — W.  C.'s  devotion — A  wretched 
wilderness  of  foul-smelling  huts — A  mad  jest  — The  joy  of 
the  blind  men — A  terrible  ride. 

We  had  many  knotty  problems  to  solve  on  that 
warm  day  of  July  in  far-off  Fez,  witii  the  temperature 
at  1 10  de<j.  and  a  journey  with  ill-conditioned  animals 
to  the  sea  coast,  200  miles  away,  before  us.  The 
Anscra,  or  hot  spell,  was  at  its  heiijht,  and  the  Sheri^n, 
or  sirocco  winds,  come  over  the  sand  plains  from  the 
Sahara  like  hot  blasts  from  Nebuchadnezzar's  furnace. 
With  all  these  problems  unsolved,  howcxcr,  we  lore 
our  saintly  muleteers  from  the  sacred  precincts  of 
I\Iulai  I'^driss  (where,  lost  in  pious  ecstas)-,  they 
crouched  before  the  tomb  of  the  Moorish  apostle), 
and  sent  them  away  all  unwilling  across  the  burning 
sand  plains  on  the  fust  daj's  journey  to  the  midland 
sea. 

Then   wc   called   and    had    a    most    unsatisfactory 
interview  with    my  banker,  who  did    business  hidden 


FROM  FEZ    TO   FLEET  STREET. 


205 


away  in  a  little  box  which  looked  like  a  dog-house 
in  the  banking  bazaar.  In  a  very  {q\v  minutes  I 
discovered  that  though  my  signature  was  supported 


Visit  to  our  Bankers. 
From  "  The  Daily  Graphic"  by  permission.   - 

by  names  of  unimpeachable  security,  he  wanted  no 
more  of  my  paper,  and  the  rich  assortment  of  bad 
silver  rejected  by  all  the  civilized  countries  of  the 
globe,  which  on  former  occasions  he  had  given  me 


206  MOROCCO  AS  II    IS. 

with  such  effusive  pohteness,  was  not  to  be  forth- 
coming at  the  very  moment  when  I  most  needed  it 
Having  no  other  alternative,  we  rode  out  into  the 
Sok,  and  Salem,  my  own  particular  boy  and  servant, 
proudly  shouldered  our  repeating  rifles,  hawked  them 
about  the  place  until  we  got  our  price — and  a  very 
good  price  it  was  too,  though  paid  in  coin  not  above 
suspicion.  In  view  of  our  very  recent  encounter  with 
the  Basha's  soldiers,  and  my  own  unhappy  conflict 
with  the  religious  mountaineers,  some  of  our  friends 
thought  this  action  crcvie,  others  silly,  but  at  all  events 
we  got  money  for  our  journey,  which  was  the  main 
point. 

As  it  afterwards  turned  out,  the  complete  break- 
down of  our  banking  arrangements  was  a  blessing  in 
disguise.  The  sale  of  our  rifles  had  a  prodigious 
effect  upon  the  Moors,  who  deemed  it  voluntary,  and 
who,  as  they  jealously  watched  our  ever}'  movement  , 
murmured,  "  If  the  sirrani  arc  selling  their  '  multiple 
death-dealing  guns,'  it  must  be  that  they  have  in 
their  swarrecs  some  still  more  terrible  engine  of  war  ;  " 
and  it  was  perhaps  to  this  incident  that  we  owe  the 
fact  that  we  crossed  quite  unmolested  the  barren  hill 
before  Mckincz  that  evening — a  dangerous  tract  of 
country  about  ten  miles  long,  infested  by  ciitaltreks , 
or  robbers.  We  found  it  a  terribly  dull  and  burnt-up 
mountain,  barren  of  trees  and  of  water  and  of  any 
shelter.  Even  the  Sultan  shuns  this  no-man's  land, 
and  it  is  said  that  he  pays  a  tribute  to  the  robber 
chiefs  who  infest  it  when  his  path  leads  him  this  way 
and  that  he  never  crosses  it  except  in  the  midst  ol 
his  army.     At  about  every  fifty  feet  of  our  journey 


FROM  FEZ    TO   FLEET   STREET.  20/ 

we  Stumbled  upon  a  mound  of  stones,  heaped  up 
there  by  pious  pilgrims  to  mark  the  spot  where  some 
terrible  deed  of  blood  had  been  done. 

It  was  nearly  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening  as  we 
rode  out  of  our  fever-stricken  garden.  Salem  led  the 
way  with  our  "drink"  mule  Veuve  Cliquot,  who 
proudly  bore  the  precious  burden  w^hich  had  been 
allotted  to  her  in  recognition  of  her  great  sobriety  of 
demeanour  and  sureness  of  foot.  The  Bashador,  as 
was  to  have  been  expected  of  him,  had  taken  a  noble 
revenge.  He  had  not  washed  us  to  cross  the  Sebou 
plains  while  the  Strega  blew  with  a  breath  of  flame. 
He  had  wished  that  we  should  accompany  him  on 
the  following  morning  on  his  own  journey  through 
the  cooler  and  the  easier  country  down  to  the  sea  by 
Salee.  But  the  world  was  waiting  for  news.  Fleet 
Street  is  a  stern  mistress.  So  we  decided  for  the 
shortest  way — the  three  days  of  mad  galloping  across 
the  burnt- up  country ;  and  the  Bashador,  with  the 
contents  of  the  securely-padlocked  box,  made  the 
shortest  way  possible. 

As  we  rode  out  of  the  garden  of  sweet  singing  bul- 
buh,  fragrant  with  flowers  and  fresh  with  the  murmur 
of  its  many  streams,  Sid  Marakshi  met  us.  He  was 
a  venerable  Fazi  merchant  with  a  magnificent  house 
which  he  had  shown  us,  and  thirty  or  forty  most 
beautiful  slaves,  which  he  had  not  shown  us  ;  so  we 
permitted  ourselves  to  espy  them.  Often  he  had 
begged  me  to  make  him  young  again,  and  even  after 
I  gave  him  bread  pills,  he  still  complained  querulously 
of  old  age.  Now,  it  seems,  he  had  come  to  say  good- 
bye with  a  singular  inspiration.     He  had  heard  of 


208  MOROCCO  AS   IT  IS. 

the  Bashador's  generous  gift,  and  said  if  I  would  but 
give  him  one  of  those  bottles  with  the  frosted  silver 
foil  he  knew  past  all  doubt  that  he  would  be  young 
again,  if  only  for  a  day — if  only  for  an  hour.  It  is 
wonderful  how  sternly  resolute  you  can  be  when 
starting  on  a  desert  journey — how  selfishly  one  clings 
to  the  foaming  wine  of  champagne  when  the  mercury 
stands  at  io8  deg.  ;  so  in  place  of  wine  I  gave  Sid 
Marakshi  advice  and  suggestions.  I  advised  him  to 
ransack  the  Kairouin  Library  and  read  Tully's"De 
Senectute."  Then,  relenting  at  the  sight  of  his  fallen 
hopes,  I  told  him  of  the  fountain  of  perennial  youth 
in  the  Kvcrglades  of  Florida,  and  invited  him  to  come 
to  the  Chicago  Exhibition  after  his  bath  in  the 
rejuvenating  waters.  Tliere  was  anj-thing  but  implicit 
faith  or  the  ring  of  gratitude  in  the  old  man's  vehe- 
ment slaaiiia,  that  came  echoing  after  us  down  the 
narrow  winding  street.  Indeed,  it  had  vcr)-  much 
the  intonation  of  a  curse. 

As  we  rode  out  of  the  town  the  l'\i/,i  were  more 
insulting  than  even  heretofore.  The  story  of  the 
affronts  the  Sultan  and  his  advisers  had  showered 
upon  the  English  Hashador  and  the  members  of  his 
Mission  had  run  like  wildfire;  through  the  bazaars, 
and  it  was  all  thought  very  clever  Shereefian  states- 
manship. So  the  women  covered  their  faces  and 
turned  contemptuously  their  ample  backs  towards  us. 
The  men  glowered  and  frowned,  and  even  the 
children  cursed  us  in  their  childish  trebles.  "  May 
the  true  God  strike  thee  to  the  ground,  Christian," 
shrieked  a  toddling  hopeful  of  four,  and  one  and  all 
in  w  hat  seemed  concerted  unison,  spat  at  our  feet  as 


FROM  FEZ    TO   FLEET  STREET.  209 

we  rode  by.  Just  before  reaching  Bab  Sigma  we 
came  to  the  earthly  resting-place  of  a  great  saint,  one 
of  whose  most  pronounced  attributes  was  a  personal 
animosity  against  me.  From  time  immemorial 
almost  he  eats  and  drinks  and  sleeps,  and  performs 
other  saintly  functions  on  a  huge  dung-heap  by  the 
Bab  Sigma,  His  hair  was  long,  and  hung  over  his 
shoulders  in  kinky  curls.  Seeing  me  coming  and 
noting  my  general  appearance  of  a  traveller  who 
will  not  return,  he  prepared  to  give  me  a  warm  "  send 
off.'-'  For  a  moment  he  girded  up  his  loins  and 
prepared  for  the  supreme  effort  in  execration.  I 
mean  this  figuratively,  for,  as  usual,  he  was  stark 
naked^  without  even  a  fig-leaf.  "  May  the  curse  of 
the  true  God  blast  thy  life,  Christian."  "  May  thy 
grandmother  rot  in  the  seventh  storey  of  hell,-"  "  May 
no  children  grow  up  in  thy  household."  He  stag- 
gered to  his  feet  and  stretched  out  his  bony  hand, 
his  emaciated  arm  towards  me,  with  an  imprecating 
gesture  which  was  certainly  forcible  and  picturesque. 
I  breathed  hard  as  the  "  drink  "  mule,  Veuve  Cliquot, 
ambled  cheerfully  past  the  raging  saint,  but  not  a 
bottle  was  broken. 

We  then  rode  on  through  the  Mesch  Wa,  or  Court 
of  Audience,  where  the  Sultan,  "  with  his  horse  for 
throne  and  the  blue  sky  for  canopy,"  "  the  Caliph  of 
the  Lord  enthroned  on  high,"  receives  the  ambassa- 
dors of  foreign  European  potentates  with  considerably 
less  distinction  and  consideration  than  he  shows  to 
the  robber  kaid  of  his  own  country.  Then  we  rode 
out  of  Bab  Sigma,  and  with  one  accord  turned  back 
to  look  once  more  on  the  beautiful  "  Western  Mecca," 

P 


2IO  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

where  man  only  is  vile  and  foul.  But  my  eyes 
drooped  and  my  blood  ran  cold  at  the  sight  I  beheld, 
— a  sight  which,  though  I  have  seen  it  so  often,  my 
senses,  refuse  to  become  familiar  with.  From  above 
the  portals  of  the  ancient  gate  there  grinned  down 
upon  us  three  ghastly  human  heads.  In  regard  to 
these  heads  I  have  my  own  ideas,  which  did  not 
coincide  with  those  of  Salem.  He  told  me  that  they 
belonged  to  robber  chiefs,  captured  in  the  Atlas  by 
the  great  Scedna's  soldiers.  I  am  quite  sure  from 
what  I  have  seen  of  them  in  my  various  trips  through 
Morocco  that  the  Shereefian  soldiers  are  far  too  gun- 
shy  to  attack  an  armed  foe,  even  for  the  five  pesetas 
with  which  the  head  of  an  enemy  is  paid  for  by  a 
grateful  sovereign.  No  ;  I  think  the  life  of  a  brigand 
in  a  large  way  of  business  in  Morocco  would  be 
rated  by  even  the  most  cautious  of  our  insurance 
people  as  a  "  first-class 'Misk.  My  ideas  about  the 
provenance  of  these  heads  is  that  they  are  generally 
volunteered  by  the  owners — indigent  beggars  or 
brt^ken-down  slaves,  impatient  for  the  pleasures  of 
Paradise,  who  stipulate  in  return,  or  rather  in 
advance,  to  get  a  filling  ante-mortem  feed  on  sheep 
and  kouscoiis.  Another  source  whence  the  ghastly 
adornments  of  these  gales  come,  is  that  however 
cautiously  and  timorously  they  may  behave,  every 
now  and  llien  a  Shereefian  soldier  skirting  the 
territory  of  a  robber  chief  gels  killed,  when  his 
comrades  immediatel)'  cut  off  his  head,  claim  the 
reward,  and  send  the  ghastly  relic  of  their  comrade 
l(<  festoon  the  portals  of  IJab  Sigma. 

i    was  determined   thai  this   giiasliy  sight  was  not 


FROM  FEZ    TO   FLEET  STREET. 


211 


to  be  my  last,  and  consequently  most  lasting, 
impression  of  Fez,  so  leaving  the  road,  we  climbed  for 
ten  minutes  or  so  up  the  steep  hill-side  to  the  right, 
and  came  to  a  halt  by  the  old  bastion  of  Mulai 
Ismael,  now  known  as  the  Dar  el  Baroud,  or  powder 


The  ghastly  view  of  the  City  Gate. 
From  "  The  Daily  Graphic,'"  by  permission. 


magazme 


We  were  now  about  six  hundred  feet 
above  the  city,  and  alm.ost  directly  over  it.  Fez,  the 
"  Western  Mecca,"  with  its  myriad  gardens,  its  many 
mosques,  and  narrow,  tortuous,  meandering  streets, 
lay  at  our  feet,  and  stood  revealed,  I  think,  as  the 

P   2 


212  MOROCCO  AS   IT  IS. 

most  beautiful  city  that  the  Mahommedan  world 
contains.  It  lies  from  east  to  west  along  the  Faz, 
the  River  of  Pearls,  as  the  Moorish  chroniclers  style 
it,  and  is  built  upon  the  slopes  of  Giebel  Salah,  and 
extends  down  the  beautiful  valley  towards  the  silvery 
Sebou.  In  the  very  rock  upon  which  we  stood  there 
had  been  cut  with  great  labour  a  subterranean 
passage,  doubtless  by  some  Moor  who  came  here  day 
by  day  to  mourn  over  the  panorama  of  decadence 
and  decay  that  lay  before  him.  The  entrance  to 
this  passage  is  hidden  by  heavy  overhanging  bushes ; 
but  one  day  I  had  stumbled  upon  it  and  found  that, 
by  following  it  on  hands  and  knees,  I  could  emerge 
on  a  ledge  of  the  cliff  some  fifty  feet  below  the 
bastion.  Here,  undisturbed,  unseen,  and  unmolested, 
as  in  an  opera  baignoire  when  the  shutter  i)anels  arc 
up,  I  had  sat  time  and  again  for  many  hours  watch- 
ing the  still  life  scenes  of  the  dying  city.  This  was 
impossible  now.  The  sun  was  low,  very  low,  and  the 
village  of  the  licni  (Jmar  forty  miles  away.  I  could 
only  permit  myself  one  comprehensive  glance  as  I 
looked  for  the  last  time  upon  the  tomb-like  city. 
The  shadows  of  evening  were  'gathering,  and  the 
dewy  mist  from  the  River  of  Pearls  rose  and  enveloped 
the  city  as  with  a  shroud.  The  bold  outlines  of  Mulai 
Mdriss  became  vague,  shadowy,  and  unsubstantial. 
ICvcn  as  I  looked  it  vanished  as  though  it  were  all 
a  dream.  Its  koubbas  of  brilliant  green  looked  dull 
and  black,  and  the  golden  ball  that  tops  the  sharp 
spire  so  fiery  red  a  moment  before  is  dark  and 
colourless.  The  sun  has  set,  and  it  is  twilight 
now. 


mOM  FEZ    TO   FLEET  STREET.  213 

The  Muedin  comes  out  on  the  tower  of  the  Sultan's 
Mosque  to  sing  out  the  muezzin.  He  seems  very 
near  to  me,  for  the  palace  grounds,  out  of  which  the 
mosque  arises^  lie  at  my  feet.  He  gives  the  starting 
cry,  and  then,  as  though  they  had  awaited  the  signal 
in  ambush,  on  every  tovv^er  of  mosque,  an  Emin 
appears,  and  the  cry  that  once  overran  the  world — 
aye,  from  the  Indian  Ocean  to  the  Atlantic,  and 
made  all  Christendom  tremble— falls  upon  my  ear. 
"  Allah  akbar,  Allah  akbar."  "  God  is  great,  God  is 
great,  and  Mahomet  is  His  messenger.  Sleep  is 
good,  but  prayer  is  better."  From  my  point  of 
vantage  I  see  the  sightless  orbs  of  the  Sultan's 
Emin,  as  with  outstretched  arms  he  sends  back  to 
Mecca  the  war-cry  of  the  Sulhama.  His  sightless 
orbs  I  say  advisedly,  for  he  who  would  become  the 
Sultan's  Emin  must  first  consent  to  lose  his  sight, 
and  never  more  be  gladdened  by  the  light  of  day, 
for  his  mosque  commands  a  view  of  the  garden  of 
the  Sultanas,  which  the  Sultan  frequents  in  his  less 
fearful  and  more  humane  moods,  and  so  the  Emin 
may  not  see  him. 

We  came  up  with  our  little  caravan  shortly  after 
midnight.  We  had  gone  forty  miles  in  five  hours, 
which  is  good  mule  travelling,  though  bad  for  the 
mules.  Veuve  Cliquot,  however,  proved  a  jewel,  and 
not  even  a  single  bottle  was  broken.  It  was  only 
the  knowledge  we  had  of  her  kicking  propensity 
that  restrained  us  from  kissing  her  all  round.  It  was 
nearly  two  before  the  mules  had  \\\e\v  yerba  and  we 
our  champagne,  which  we  had  buried  deep  in  marshy 
ground  until  cool  enough   to   drink.     Instead  of  the 


214  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

fragile,  long-stemmed  glasses  of  civilization,  we 
drank  out  of  the  sweet-smelling  cedar-wood  goblets 
which  the  Ben  M'ghil  hoop  so  cleverly  with  brass, 
and  to  me  the  foaming  wine  of  Champagne  never 
tasted  more  refreshing.  We  then  spread  out  our 
Zimmoor  rugs  under  an  ilex  tree,  and  prepared  for 
what  we  knew  would  be  a  short  sleep.  It  was,  how- 
ever, shorter  even  than  we  had  anticipated.  As 
I  turned  in  I  ahnost  providentially  discovered  a 
scorpion  in  the  folds  of  my  rug,  and  the  sight  of 
the  gruesome  reptile  banished  all  thought  of  sleep 
from  my  mind  for  the  night.  W.  C.  was  not  more 
fortunate.  All  night  his  bed  was  traversed  by  relays 
of  centipedes,  who  rushed  across  his  rug  at  racing 
speed. 

Just  as  I  was  dozing  off  I  was  sharply  awakened 
to  consciousness  by  two  sharp  bites  between  the  eyes 
and  as  I  sprang  hastily  up  I  felt  in  the  darkness 
something  gruesome,  something  clamm)-,  reptile-like 
glide  off  my  shoulder  on  to  the  ground.  I  awakened 
W.  C,  who  immediately  sucked  my  wounds  and 
rubbed  them  with  ammonia.  He  was  the  picture 
of  woe,  and  evidently  thought,  as  I  did,  that  I  had 
been  bitten  by  the  dcadlj-  akrccb  or  scor[)ion,  and 
that  my  death  was  merely  a  matter  of  hours.  With- 
out any  reserve  whatever  he  placed  the  whiskey 
bottle  before  mc,  and  then  with  the  flickering  light 
of  our  candle  casting  ghostly  shadows  about  our 
little  tent,  we  awaited  the  things  that  were  to  come. 
As  after  half  an  hour's  waiting  I  showed  no  signs  of 
my  approaching  dissolution,  W.  C.  became  very 
jo\ial,    and,  shall  I  say   it?  sceptical.     After  another 


FROM  FEZ    TO   FLEET  STREET.  21  5 

quarter  of  an  hour,  he  so  far  forgot  himself  as  to  say, 
"  Pass  that  bottle,  please ;  seems  to  me  I  have  as 
much  of  that  akreeb's  poison  in  me  as  you  have." 

In  two  hours  we  gave  it  up,  and  shortly  after  four 
were  in  the  saddle  again.  I  shall  not  make  in  this 
narrative  any  further  allusions  to  the  heat  by  day 
and  the  cold  by  night  from  which  we  suffered, 
because  frank  friends  advise  me  that  they  are  not 
calculated  to  increase  my  reputation  for  veracity, 
but  I  will  say  that  at  night  when  we  rode  I  always 
found  it  advisable  to  wear  an  ulster  and  all  the  other 
heavy  clothing  that  was  available,  and  despite  all 
this  I  was  still  always  chilled  to  the  very  bone,  while 
at  midday  it  was  a  moral  effort  for  me  to  keep  on 
even  the  zephyr  covering  of  the  Moorish  Sel/iam. 

From  four  we  rode  steadily  on  till  eleven  oVlock, 
and  b}'  practising  cruelty  to  our  animals  we  got 
nearly  six  miles  an  hour  out  of  them.  At  midday 
we  reached  a  wretched,  miserable  douar,  or  collection 
of  huts,  where  we  halted.  These  rows  of  brown 
huts  might  easily  have  been  taken,  and  not  from  a 
very  great  distance  either,  for  heaps  of  barn-yard 
refuse,  and  the  wretched  people  who  crawled  out 
of  them,  with  the  inevitable  Salemalikum  on  their 
lips,  for  just  so  many  miserable  sluggish  maggots. 
The  ShivisJiin  Sahonn — the  hot  sun — here  enveloped 
us  as  with  a  pillar  of  flame,  and  the  breath  of  the 
Strega  overcame  us.  I  felt  as  though  I  had  been 
in  the  hottest  room  of  a  Hamam  since  daybreak,  and 
still  my  skin  was  dry  as  tinder  and  parchment  to 
the  touch.  I  think  for  a  moment  I  went  mad — at 
least  I   hope  I  shall   escape   moral  responsibility  for 


2l6  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

the  incident  of  the  hour.  I  do  not  remember  the 
name  of  this  douar,  and  I  would  that  the  merciful 
powers  would  provide  me  with  some  subtle  potion 
that  might  wash  all  memory  of  it  from  my  recollec- 
tion altogether.  I  was  indeed  in  a  very  bad  humour, 
A  short  and  somewhat  staccato  conversation  with  the 
headman  had  not  greatly  enlightened  me  on  matters 
in  general,  but  I  learnt  that  we  had  come  some  five 
miles  out  of  the  direct  road  in  -order  to  camp  in 
this  wretched  wilderness  of  rambling,  foul-smelling 
huts,  and  this  was  not  calculated  to  improve  my 
temper.  It  seems  there  was  an  Homeric  friendship 
between  the  headman  and  the  Kaid  Sudeck,  or 
perhaps  there  was  a  lady  in  the  case.  At  all  events 
I  took  malicious  pains,  and  am  certain  the  rendezvotis 
never  came  off.  With  unimproved  temper,  I  called 
the  men  about  me  and  gave  them  a  talking  to.  If 
we  had  come  so  very  fast  and  ridden  so  very  hard, 
I  said,  it  was  not  on  our  account,  but  because  we 
knew  that  l^ushta-el-Bagdadi  had  sworn,  and  even  told 
the  Bashador,  that  if  he  caught  one  of  my  men,  that 
man  would  never  more  be  seen  of  his  friends.  They 
ought  to  know,  I  said,  that  a  Moorish  Bashaw  could 
do  nothing  to  us,  and  that  the  discomforts  our 
hurried  journey  had  imposed  were  borne  simply  and 
sold)-  by  us,  because  we  wanted  to  save  their  lives. 
I  told  them  that  instead  of  grumbling  and  leading  us 
by  circuitous  routes  for  their  own  tlcar  lives,  they 
should  hasten  to  get  within  the  walls  of  Tangier, 
where  our  consuls  would  jjrotect  them,  provided  we 
spoke  the  word.  This  lie  fell  like  a  bombshell,  and, 
1   regret  to  say,  as  lies  always  do   in    Morocco,   had 


FROM  FEZ    TO   FLEET  STREET. 


217 


a  prodigious  effect.     It  gave  them  the  speed  which 
brought  us  to  Alkesar  the  next  night. 

While  tea  was  boiling  the  headman  informed  me 
that  there  was  a  bHnd  man  in  the  village  v/ho  wanted 
to  know  whether  I  could  not  do  something  for  him, 
and  in  a  moment  of  genial  madness,  which  has  placed 
another  remorse  upon  my  soul,  I  replied  gaily,   as 


To  make  the  Blind  see. 
Froin  "  The  Daily  Graphic"  by  J>eriiiission. 

though  it  were  a  huge  joke,  ''Yes,  most  certainly, 
bring  in  all  your  blind  men,  I  will  make  them  see." 
As  one  possessed,  the  kaid  now  ran  from  house  to 
house  through  the  village,  thrusting  his  head  into 
every  door  and  crying  out  in  a  shrill  voice  as  he  ran, 


2l8  MOROCCO  AS   IT  IS. 

and  long  before  I  was  aware  of  the  promise  that  my 
words  held  out  and  the  hope  they  conveyed  to  these 
poor  helpless  people,  I  was  surrounded  by  all  the 
blind  of  the  village,  and  the  faces  of  many  of  them 
were  already  bright  with  the  hopes  that  my  foolish, 
idle  words  had  inspired.  The  blind  of  the  doiiar 
were  eight  in  number,  and  they  represented  every 
decade  of  human  development  and,  alas,  of  human 
decay.  One  was  a  man  so  old  that  it  seemed  to  me 
I  had  never  seen  anything  so  bent,  so  wrinkled,  and 
quite  so  old  outside  of  mummy  cases.  Some  groped 
their  way  towards  the  tree  where  I  stood,  some  were 
carried  and  some  were  led.  A  mother  with  a  child 
blind-born  came  first,  weeping  with  great  joy  that 
the  "  foreign  healer "  should  have  come  this  way, 
and  the  ray  of  hope  and  the  light  of  anticipation 
that  beamed  on  the  dull  blank  faces  struck  me  to 
the  ground  with  the  terrible  consciousness,  now 
too  late,  of  the  great  wrong  I  had  done.  I  never 
was  so  distressed  in  my  life.  I  gave  them  what 
silver  and  jloos  there  was  in  the  saddle-bags,  and, 
knowing  that  though  it  might  do  no  good  it 
would  do  no  harm,  I  gave  them  all  the  salt  wc  had 
with  us,  to  be  applied  with  wet  bandages  to  their 
eyes.  This  deprivation  was  at  all  events  a  penance, 
though  by  no  means  proportionate  to  the  offence, 
and  a  penance  which  the  other  innocent  members  oJ 
the  caravan  had  to  pay  with  m}sclf,  an  injustice  they 
took  pleasure  in  pointing  out  about  every  five  minutes 
of  the  day.  As  wc  rode  out  of  the  doiiar,  an  hour 
later,  the  blank  faces  of  the  unfortunate  people  were 
dull  au'l   hf)pclcss   again,  and,  as   it  seemed  to   me 


FROM  FEZ    TO   FLEET  STREET.  219 

more  dull  and  hopeless  still  than  before  my  foolish 
words  had  been  spoken  ;  and  as  I  rode  out  of  the 
village  this  heavy  remorse  perched  on  my  saddle 
bows,  and  those  joyless  faces  rode  with  me  for  many 
a  mile,  I  forget  the  name  of  that  donar,  but  the 
scene  I  witnessed  there  I  shall  see  until  I  see  no 
more. 

We  remained  in  the  saddle  this  evening  until  ten 
o'clock,  w:hen  we  came  up  to  a  small  mountain  village 
near  Kort,  where  are  the  famous  Shereefian  fish,  in 
which  are  supposed  to  dwell  the  starlit  souls  of 
Shereefs  and  Marabouts  who  leave  this  world  in  the 
odour  of  sanctity.  I  had  not  time  to  revisit  this 
interesting  spot,  and  endeavour  to  secure  further  in- 
formation which  would  surely  prove  interesting  as  to 
how  the  theory  of  the  transmigration  of  the  soul  had 
cropped  up  here  on  the  slopes  of  the  Upper  Atlas. 
There  was  a  beautifully  cool  well  here,  and  W.  C. 
and  I  had  a  splendid  time  throwing  buckets  of  water 
upon  each  other.  Very  much  refreshed  we  awaited 
the  coming  of  dinner,  and  we  waited  in  vain.  After 
some  forty  minutes  had  elapsed  I  went  to  the  men's 
quarters,  under  a  neighbouring  tree,  and  found,  to  my 
disgust,  that  the  charcoal  fire  was  out,  and  that  the 
men  were  sound  asleep — in  a  sleep  from  which  my 
kicks,  given  without  any  reserve,  failed  to  awaken 
them.  So  we  supped  that  night  on  sardines  and  our 
lordly  tipple.  We  got  three  hours'  sleep,  breaking 
camp  an  hour  before  daybreak,  and  so  began,  I  think, 
the  longest  day  of  my  life.  At  a  little  after  four 
o'clock  the  sun  rose  like  a  ball  of  fire,  and  even  by 
five  the  atmosphere  was  quite  oppressive.     At   six 


220  MOROCCO  AS   IT  IS. 

o'clock  we  were  faint  and  wear)-,  but  at  seven,  an 
hour  later,  an  olive  branch,  or  rather  the  sight  of  a 
magnificent  wild  olive  tree,  came  to  delight  our  eyes 
and  cheer  us  up.  We  saw  it  while  we  were  yet  a 
great  distance  off  and  cheered  it.  It  stood  directly 
in  our  path.  Here  we  would  camp  ;  here  we  would 
relieve  our  feelings  by  thrashing  our  men  soundly  all 
round  for  their  remissness  about  dinner  on  the  even- 
ing before,  and  endeavour  to  forget  the  terribly  dry 
and  parched  condition  of  our  bodies,  by  drinking 
strong  bumpers  of  boiling  tea.  The  ever-cheerful 
Salem  assured  us  that  we  would  be  under  the  tree 
in  about  half  an  hour.  I  had  already  had  some  very 
distressing  experiences  with  Salem's  estimates  of  the 
flight  of  time,  so  I  put  it  down  in  my  mind  that  we 
would  probably  onl}'  reach  the  shaded  shelter  of  the 
tree  in  some  two  hours. 

It  was  indeed  beautiful  to  look  at  from  afar — that 
olive  tree — as  it  stood  in  the  centre  of  the  desolate, 
brown,  burnt  landscape  through  which  we  rode,  for 
the  heat  of  the  last  six  weeks  had  taken  all  the  fresh- 
ness and  colour,  and,  indeed,  the  very  life  itself  out 
of  the  scenes  which  on  our  aiiabasis  had  struck  us  as 
so  rich  with  colour,  so  gay  and  variegated  with  wild 
flowers.  The  laud  lay  at  our  feet  like  an  over-baked 
loaf,  with  deep  ridges  and  furrows  in  its  surface  where 
the  sun  had  cracked  it.  My  head  swam,  and  cold 
chills  kept  running  up  and  down  my  spine  in  a  most 
disagreeable  manner  ;  ^^v^y  the  green  olive  tree,  with 
its  umbrageous  branches  and  the  possible,  even 
probable,  spring  at  its  feet,  stood  out  on  the  horizon 
lurid  with  tlu-  dancing  heat,  as  a  pillow  of  hope — the 


I- ROM  FEZ    TO   FLEET  STREET.  221 

only  thing  that  could  save  us  from  the  cremation 
that  seemed  to  be  our  fate.  When  we  dipped  down 
into  a  plain  and  saw  the  tree  no  more  for  an  hour,  I 
felt  as  though  I  had  lost  a  friend  in  need.  For  an 
hour  we  pushed  our  animals  across  the  arid  surface 
of  the  plain,  jagging  them  with  our  spurs  with  cruel 
kindness,  until  finally  we  again  reached  the  rising 
ground,  where  a  terrible  disillusion  awaited  us. 
The  wild  olive  tree,  the  bright  green  speck,  the 
haven  we  so  desired,  the  sleep  we  were  to  take  in 
its  pleasant  shade,  the  water  with  which  we  were 
to  lave  our  throbbing  temples — now  all  seemed 
further  away  than  before.  The  tree  miisi  have 
moved.  We  settled  now  grimly  down  to  the  test 
of  endurance  which  we  had  on  the  day  before  with 
such  light  hearts  imposed  upon  our  men  and  our 
beasts.  Our  ride  had  now  become,  as  we  well 
knew,  a  sharp,  uncertain  struggle  for  existence.  In 
my  back  the  blood  was  drawn  out  of  the  veins  into 
the  skin,  and  between  the  knees  and  the  thighs  of  all 
of  us  there  were  great  and  painful  swellings,  full  of 
fever  and  puffed  up  by  the  steadfastness  of  the  sun's 
rays  beating  upon  us.  The  Moors,  even,  woke  up 
from  their  attitude  of  fatalistic  indifference.  They 
swathed  their  heads  completely  in  their  turbans,  and 
pulled  the  hoods  of  their  jellabs  and  selhams  over 
their  faces  ;  and  now,  completely  enveloped,  and 
blind  as  bats  from  the  sun  and  the  swathing  of  their 
head-coverings,  they  let  their  reins  fall,  and  wisely 
left  the  animals  to  their  own  guidance. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

FROM   FEZ  TO   FLEET   STREET — {Cofltimicd). 

A  chapter  of  adventures — Descent  of  the  Beni  Hassan — The 
secret  of  the  Nomad  Berber  Sheik — Struck  down  by  the 
sun — Moorish  massage— A  memory  of  Macedonia — The 
approach  to  Al-Kesar — A  ghostly  valley — Where  Dom 
Sebastian  fell — The  minaret  constructed  of  Christian 
heads. 

Shortly  after  mid-day  wc  reached  the  much- 
desired  shadow  of  the  wild  oHve  tree,  and  very  dis- 
appointing it  was,  too,  on  a  nearer  view.  The 
leafage  that  had  seemed  so  green  was  a  dusty  brown  ; 
the  water  of  the  well  we  knew  was  there  looked  like 
bilge  water,  but  we  lapped  it  up  with  the  mud  and 
the  moss  it  contained  like  over-heated,  thirsty 
spaniels,  and,  spreading  out  our  rugs,  prepared  to 
take  what  rest  and  repose  the  fates  might  have  in 
store  for  us.  We  found  it  even  less  than  we  had 
expected.  I  was  endeavouring  in  feverish  wakeful- 
ness to  concentrate  my  thoughts  on  cooling  draughts 
and  dreams  of  icebergs,  when  I  became  aware  that 
some  one  was  approaching  our  resting-place.  I  was 
greatly  relieved  to  find  that  it  was  only  a  Ik-rber 
woman  who  came  riding  up  the  hill  oi)posite  where 
we  were  encamped,  on  a  ludicrously  small  donkey. 


FRO:\I  FEZ    TO   FLEET  STREET.  223 

holding  a  child  on  the  bur  da  before  her.  They 
came  straight  towards  the  tree  behind  which  we 
were  encamped,  and  evidently  did  not  observe  us. 
The  woman  wore  much  jewellery,  anklets  and 
bangles  galore  ;  a  silk  haik  w^as  wound  gracefully 
around  her  head  and  shoulders,  and  she  was  evidently 
the  wife  of  some  considerable  chief.  She  seemed 
very  depressed  and  sad — a  sadness  which  I  under- 
stood only  when  she  lifted  her  child  down  from  the 
hurda  to  the  ground.  Its  pitiful  little  face  was 
covered  with  green  and  white  blotches,  and  its  legs 
were  swollen  with  elephantiasis  like  la  Venus  Hot- 
tentot, who  several  years  ago  enthralled  the  morbid 
crowds  of  Paris  with  a  view  of  her  unhealthy  obesity. 
Taking  from  her  burda  a  prayer  carpet  of  rich  Fez 
cloth,  the  woman  prostrated  herself  until  her  fore- 
head touched  the  ground.  I  nov/  peered  round  the 
tree,  and  saw  that  we  had  unwittingly  encamped  at 
a  shrine  or  tomb  of  a  saint.  Yes  ;  there  was  the 
rocky  tomb  of  the  Marabout.  From  the  lower 
branches  of  the  tree  there  fluttered  a  great  quantity 
of  streamers  torn  from  their  Jiaiksjellabs,  and  other 
garments^  and  placed  there  as  votive  offerings  by 
devout  pilgrims  who  had  passed  this  way  and  paused 
to  spend  a  reverent  moment  at  the  tomb  of  Sid 
Hadj  Absalom  El  Hallou— "  My  Lord  Pilgrim, 
Saint  Absalom  the  Sweet."  Suddenly  the  unhappy 
mother  caught  sight  of  my  intrusive  gaze,  and  dis- 
continuing her  prayers  she  rose^  and,  pointing  to  the 
tomb  with  the  air  and  port  of  a  tragedy-queen, 
cx\&d,  '' Shereef!  Shereef!"  "Saint!  Saint !"  and 
molioned  me  with  gestuies   that  there  was  no  mis- 


224  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

taking  to  be  gone.  With  a  very  impolite  curse  on 
all  the  saints  of  Islam,  including  the  great  Sulhajna^ 
and  especially  so  upon  "  Sweet  Absalom,"  I  turned 
over  on  my  rug  and  tried  to  go  to  sleep,  and,  indeed, 
I  was  fast  entering  upon  the  rest  I  needed  so  much, 
and  dreaming  of  those  who  at  home,  perchance, 
were  making  sweet  prayer  for  me,  when  Salem  sud- 
denly gave  my  arm  a  sharp  pull  and  said,  "  Berbers  ! 
Get  your  gun  !  " 

It  came  like  a  cry  of  "  Injuns,  by  Gosh  !  "  in  a 
frontier  camp.  Then,  too  late,  we  perceived  their 
encampment  of  brown,  weather-beaten  tents  on  the 
neighbouring  hill;  then,  too  late,  for  down  in  the 
valley  beneath  us,  galloping  their  horses  ventre  a 
terre,  came  some  twenty  of  these  nomads,  straight 
towards  us,  making  very  noisy  "powder  play"  as 
they  came.  Wc  saw  at  a  glance,  by  the  richness  of 
their  dresses  and  their  many-coloured  kaftans  and 
general  air  of  prosperity,  that  we  had  fallen  foul  of 
the  redoubtable  Bcni  Hassan,  who,  with  the  Zim- 
moors,  contend  for  supremacy  in  the  "  bush-whack- 
ing" line.  They  were  very  picturesque  as  they 
came  towards  us,  rending  the  air  with  their  invoca- 
tions to  Mulai  Ab-del-Kadcr  and  Mulai  Ut-Salaam, 
and  very  formidable  they  looked  too.  We  instantly 
began  preparations  to  leave  the  sacred  shrine  of 
"  Sweet  Absalom,"  the  saint  of  many  titles.  It  was 
with  poignant  regret  that  I  saw  the  Berbers  in  such 
picturesque  guise  a  month  too  late.  A  month  earlier 
I  would  have  died  happy  at  their  hands  with  all  my 
illusions  fresh  and  strong.  I  could  have  asked  for 
no  better  fate  than  that  which  it  would  please  these 


226  MOROCCO  AS   IT  IS. 

heroes  of  my  youth  to  bestow  upon  me.  But  a 
month  before,  oh  !  bitter  day,  I  had  come  upon  a 
Berber  chief  and  his  suite  of  womankind  by  the  great 
spring  on  the  road  to  Mekinez  where  the  River  of 
Pearls  springs  out  of  a  huge  rock,  clear  and  cold  as 
though  it  flowed  out  from  the  heart  of  a  glacier, 
and  "after  compliments,"  as  we  say  in  Morocco,  I 
plied  him  with  many  questions,  and  as  he  was 
gracious  and  courteous,  I  even  ventured  to  put  a 
question  which  always  before,  at  the  sight  of  the 
picturesque  Berbers,  had  died  away  on  my  lips  as 
unseemly.  "  Why,"  I  said  to  the  venerable  Sheik, 
"  are  thy  people  as  restless  as  the  sea-waves  ?  Wh)- 
do  they  roam  backwards  and  forwards,  having  no 
home  save  their  tent ;  no  country  but  the  world," 
and,  as  I  might  have  added,  "  no  purpose  in  life  but 
unwittingly  to  furnish  copy  to  the  poet  ?  "  I  paused 
for  the  reply  with  my  ear  strained  with  eagerness 
and  greedy  to  learn  the  secret  of  their  nomad  life. 
Some  lovely  legend,  I  was  sure  ;  a  story  of  some 
primeval  curse  that  still  rested  upon  them.  The 
venerable  Sheik  shook  his  head  sadly.  "  'Tis  true," 
he  said,  "  we  are  as  restless  as  the  sea-waves,  and  the 
world  is  our  country  ;  but  this  nomad  life  is  our  fate, 
our  destiny,  not  our  wish.  Often  we  troop  into  some 
pleasant  valley,  and  fain  would  wc  tarry  and  fatten 
our  cattle  and  grow  rich  and  prosperous  like  other 
children  of  men,  O  .Siranni  !  But  it  is  not  so  written. 
When  our  tents  have  been  pitched  for  a  few  weeks, 
there  always  comes  over  us  a  plague  of  insects,  and 
we  must  strike  our  tents  and  away."  So  another 
long-chcrishcd  illusion  wmt  by  the  board,  and  1  can 


FROM  FEZ    TO   FLEET  STREET.  22/ 

only  think  with  amusement  now  of  the  squadrons  of 
brave  Berbers  hunted  from  the  Red  Sea  to  the 
Atlantic,  and  from  the  Mediterranean  to  the  Sahara, 
by  the  insects  which,  as  the  Sheik  left  it  an  open 
question,  they  either  engender  or  attract.  The  "  pow- 
der play,"  which  might  have  been  interpreted  as  an 
honour  or  as  a  menace,  was  over  now,  and  the  Ber- 
bers rode  straight  up  towards  us  with  their  repeating 
rifles  balanced  very  handily  on  their  saddle  bows, 
and  the  many-coloured,  embroidered  belts  bristling 
fiercely  with  lethal  weapons. 

"  The  blessing — the  Fatiha,  of  the  only  True  God 
has  hallowed  this  tomb,  Christians,"  spoke  the  head- 
man of  the  party,  "You  must  be  gone."  '' Ham- 
dillah — Praise  be  to  God.  In  the  True  God  there 
is  only  strength,  but  chief,  we  knew  not  that 
Absalom  the  sweet  saint  was  resting  in  this  spot,  or 
we  had  not  presumed  to  tarry  on  the  soil  he  conse- 
crates.'^ This  seemed  to  be  satisfactory  to  them.  We 
placed  the  burdas  on  our  animals  and  once  again  set 
out  unrested  and  unrefreshed  on  the  trail  to  Alkesar. 
I  might  have  forgiven  the  Beni  Kassan  were  they 
really  fanatical,  and  had  they  thought  that  we  were 
disturbing  the  slumbers  of  the  saints  and  desecrating 
their  grave,  but  they  did  not.  The  Beni  Hassan  do 
not  care  a  straw  about  Mahomet,  much  less  about  the 
saints.  In  fact,  the  only  things  they  care  about  are 
sheep  and  horse  stealing,  and  making  themselves 
generally  disagreeable  to  the  stray  Christians.  So  we 
rode  sternly  away,  and  as  we  went  I  administered 
a  parting  shot,  which  I  was  glad  to  see  went  home. 
"  Tell  your  Sheik,"  said   I  to  the  headman,  with  as 

Q  2 


228  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

much  dignity  as  one  can  clothe  with  very  little 
Arabic,  "  that  I  have  camped  with  your  brave 
brothers,  the  Beni  Hassan  of  Upper  Egypt,  and  when 
next  I  travel  to  their  country  I  will  tell  them  with 
sorrow  of  how  the  Beni  Hassan  of  El  Moghreb  exercise 
hospitality  to  strangers  that  pass  through  their  land." 
We  had  not  gone  a  mile  before  this  untruth  brought 
forth  fruit,  or  at  least  very  welcome  provisions.  We 
were  overtaken  by  two  Berbers  galloping  like  mad 
— one  carried  in  his  hand  a  basket  of  eggs  which  he 
had  smashed  in  his  haste ;  the  other  a  dozen 
chickens  slung  over  his  saddle.  "A  present  from 
our  chief  to  the  Lord  Pilgrim,"  they  shouted,  "and 
a  prayer  we  bring  from  our  Sheik  that  our  Lord 
Pilgrim  may  deign  to  bear  his  fraternal  greeting  to 
the  Beni  Hassan  of  Upper  Egypt."  We  relented, 
and  accepted  the  mouna,  and  sent  the  messengers 
back  hugely  delighted  with  a  box  of  wax  lights 
a-piece.  W^c  travelled  now  for  four  interminable 
hours  through  a  desolate  waste,  which  suggested 
Browning's  verse.  Surely  we  too,  like  Childe 
Rolande,  were  coming  to  "the  dark  tower."  There 
was  not  a  bush  nor  a  rock,  nor  even  a  wretched 
douar,  by  which  to  mark  our  progress.  Salem 
asserted  solemnly  that  once  again  we  were  in 
"  the  bad  people's  country,"  and  persisted  in  riding 
with  his  finger  clutching  convulsively  the  trigger 
of  his  old  "  Queen  Bess."  If  that  venerable  weapon 
had  only  excited  the  apprehension  in  the  breasts 
of  "the  bad  people"  that  it  did  in  mine,  it  would 
indeed  have  been  a  most  serviceable  and  formidable 
weapon. 


FROM   FEZ    TO   FLEET  STREET.  229 

But  my  thoughts  now  wandered  from  our  cheerless 
surroundings ;  my  head  grew  light  and  my  limbs 
heavy,  and  it  seemed  as  though  someone  was  packing 
my  spine  in  ice,  an  operation  that  did  not  please  me 
at  all,  and,  by  analogy  of  cheerless  circumstances  I 
suppose,  it  seemed  to  me  that  I  was  riding  with 
Tryko  through  Macedonia  in  search  of  "atrocities." 
Yes,  we  are  bathing  in  the  river  that  flows  so  swift 
to  the  Illyrian  Sea,  and  I  hear  again  that  faint  cry 
that  grows  so  strong  with  the  months  and  the  years 
that  pass  ;  a  faint  cry  ;  and  yet  so  penetrating,  so 
uncanny,  that  our  Turkish  ponies  broke  their 
halters  and  ran  neighing  with  fear  far  from  the  place 
where  we  bathed.  Then  there  came  out  of  the 
thicket  a  moving  creature — a  man  it  seemed — scantily 
dressed,  with  the  green  and  yellow  pustules  of  small- 
pox all  over  his  exposed  body,  horrible  to  look  at, 
scratched  by  the  briars  and  festering.  He  dragged 
himself  wearily  out  on  the  river  bank,  and  half  kneel- 
ing, half  standing  there  in  his  misery,  stretched 
out  his  hand,  shrieking — yet  his  voice  was  weak  and 
broken,  and  hardly  reached  us  only  twenty  yards 
away — "Ninch  I  ninch  V  "  I  having  nothing,  nothing." 
With  only  the  thought  of  preserving  ourselves  from 
contagion,  how  cunningly  we  coaxed  him  down 
stream,  and  then  the  mad  rush  we  made — while  he, 
painfully  drawing  one  limb  after  another,  followed  u^) 
— a  rush  to  the  thicket  where  our  clothes  were  con- 
cealed. Our  bare  feet  were  cut  by  the  broken  ground 
and  sharp  stones,  but  we  were  dressed  and  on  our 
ponies  before  he  reached  us,  throwing  a  handful  of 
silver   on    the    ground — silver    for    a    man    stricken 


230  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

with  small-pox,  twenty  miles  from  human  aid  !  And 
then  we  were  off,  glad  to  escape  the  presence  of  a 
fellow-human  in  such  straits.  True,  that  night  in 
Scopia  we  did  endeavour  to  send  a  doctor  out  to  the 
dying  shepherd  on  the  bleak  mountain  side,  and 
well  I  remember  his  words,  "  A  pretty  life  I  would 
lead  if  I  went  to  every  man  down  with  disease  on 
the  mountains;"  then  with,  I  fear,  but  belated 
twinges  of  conscience,  we  talked  to  the  drunken 
pope  of  the  town  about  this  poor  fellow's  pitiful 
plight.  But  the  pope,  good  man,  would  have  none 
of  it,  and  preferred  to  play  backgammon  with  the 
emissary  of  the  Slav  Benevolent  Society  from  Holy 
Moscow,  who  stood  drinks  all  round  about  every  ten 
minutes.  And  then  the  hollow  mockery  of  the 
scenes  of  the  following  morning  as  we  rode  past  the 
palace  towards  Pristina,  "  seeking  atrocities  and 
wrongs  to  be  righted,"  while  Akmet  Ayoub,  the  last 
marshal  of  the  Turkish  Empire,  glared  and  fumed 
at  us  from  the  palace  window,  and  the  Scrbo-Slavs 
and  the  liulgaro-Slavs  joined  hands  in  doing  us 
honour,  placing  wreaths  of  flowers  on  our  ponies' 
necks  and  crying  with  tears  of  hope  in  their  ejes, 
"  Sbogom  !  Sbogom  !  "  "  (jo  with  God  !  Go  with 
God  !  "  I  wonder  if  Tryko,  as  he  sits  in  chains  in 
the  black  Mosque  of  Sofia,  remembers  the  atrocity 
we  committed  in  Macedonia.  I  wonder  if  he  ever 
sees  that  face  or  hears  that  piercing  cry  of  "  Ninch." 
Perhaps  not  ;  the  heavy  hand  of  Stambuloff  is 
Nemesis  enough.  I  wonder  if  he  dreams  too,  as  I  do 
now,  that  he  is  d>'ing  of  thirst,  and  that  as  I  ask  for 
cold  water  they  smother  me  with  silver  .   .  . 


FROM  FEZ    TO   FLEET  STREET. 


231 


I  awaken  and  find  myself  swathed  in  rugs.  It  is 
after  five  o'clock,  and  cooler.  Kaid  Sudek  is  knead- 
ing my  head  as  though  it  were  a  lump  of  dough.  It 
seemed  that  when  we  halted  for  tea  I  toppled  ofT  my 
horse  from  sheer  heat  exhaustion.  We  had  often 
sneered  at  the  witch-doctors  of  F'ez,  but  the  fact 
remains  that  for  the  complaints  they  are  most  subject 
to  the  Moors  know  how  to  take  care  of  themselves 


Moorish  Massage. 
From  "  The  Daily  Graphic;'  by  feniiissioit. 

wonderfully  well.  With  the  best  medical  advice  I 
would  probably  have  been  in  bed  for  a  week  after 
this  mishap,  but  now  with  Kaid  Sudek's  homely  care 
I  was  in  the  saddle  within  an  hour.  He  began  by 
kneading  my  head  with  his  knuckles,  then  with 
massage,  working  the  fever  and  heat  away  from  the 
base  of  the  brain  round  to  the  forehead.  Then,  as 
Kaid  drew  my  scalp  taut  over  the  back  of  my  head, 


232  yroROCCO  as  it  is. 

Salem  twitched  and  pulled  at  the  skin  of  my  forehead 
until  it  was  broken  in  several  places.  W.  C.  avers 
that  then  the  heat  came  out  of  me  like  steam  from 
an  escape-pipe  ;  that  he  could  see  it  and  feel  it. 
Then  he  split  a  lemon  and  clapped  it  to  my  temples, 
deftly  fastening  a  bandage  around  my  head  to  keep 
them  in  position.  In  five  minutes  I  felt  like  a  new 
man,  and  in  half  an  hour  we  were  off  on  the  road  to 
Alkesar.  It  was  indeed  weary  work,  and  I  had  over 
and  over  again  to  steel  my  heart  with  the  thought  of 
the  exigencies  of  the  hour,  before  I  could  continue 
shouting  my  incessant  ^/rt'^Z'^,  dabba  to  the  weary  men, 
and  jab  my  spurs  once  again  into  the  lacerated  flanks 
of  my  horse,  who,  with  the  possible  exception  of 
Veuve  Cliquot,  the  coquettish  drink  mule,  was  the 
freshest  of  our  animals.  By  six  o'clock  we  had  only 
made  about  five  miles,  and  as  Alkesar  was  still  fifteen 
miles  away,  something  desperate  would  have  to  be 
done.  I  determined  to  ride  ahead  and  make  arrange- 
ments for  the  \cry  necessary  rela)-s  of  animals  to 
carry  us  along  over  the  seventy  good  miles  that  lay 
between  Alkesar,  El  Kcbir,  and  Tangier,  the  white 
city  of  the  black  continent.  And  at  fust,  indeed,  it 
was  a  relief  to  get  be)-ond  sight  and  hearing  of  the 
caravan  where  animals  and  men  alike  were  com- 
plaining pitcously.  As  darkness  gathered  in  so  came 
my  diHicullies,  and  at  (jue  time  I  came  to  the  con- 
clusion that  ni\-  forced  march  ahead  would  prove  an 
instance  of  wlu  rt-  the  more  haste  is  the  less  speed. 
On  crossing  the  Sebou  ri\(  r,  the  day  before,  we  had 
left  the  road  and  come  along  a  narrow  trail  frequented 
only  by  cattle  drivers.      It   was   not  clearly  marked 


FROM  FEZ    TO   FLEET  STREET.  233 

out,  and  I  lost  it  several  times  ;  and,  though  I  had 
ridden  ahead  at  a  good  pace,  when  nine  o'clock  came 
there  was  no  sign  of  Alkesar.  I  had  never  come 
this  way  in  travelling  through  Morocco  before,  and  I 
began  to  deplore  my  zeal  in  pushing  ahead.  At  last, 
however,  I  caught  sight  of  two  men  watching  my 
movements  from  a  hill-top.  I  turned  my  horse's 
head  and  galloped  towards  them  ;  but  as  I  approached 
they  ran  away  and  disappeared  in  the  darkness, 
leaving  me  alone  to  my  own  devices,  and  very  much 
disheartened. 

I  pushed  on  doggedly,  however,  and  finally,  at  ten 
o'clock  I  was  rewarded  by  hearing  the  murmur  of 
the  river  which  runs  through  Alkesar,  This  was 
indeed  encouraging.  I  had,  at  least,  kept  to  the 
right  direction  generally,  and  had  reason  to  hope  that 
my  difficulties  were  over.  But  it  seems  they  were 
not.  After  galloping  for  about  a  mile  along  the 
river,  which  is,  I  believe,  the  Lixus  of  Pliny,  and 
finding  no  ford,  I  spurred  my  horse  into  the  water 
blindly,  and  came  very  near  getting  drowned  for  my 
pains.  I  had  made  a  bad  choice  of  a  ford,  and  as  my 
pony  was  not  a  swimmer,  when  he  got  beyond  his 
depth  I  had  to  slide  out  of  the  saddle,  and,  with 
the  bridle  in  my  mouth,  endeavour  to  make  the 
opposite  shore  with  a  very  weary  and  frightened 
pony  in  tow.  Fortunately  the  deep  water  was  only 
about  sixty  feet  across,  and  so  the  strain  was  a  short 
one.  Cold  and  wet  and  chattering,  I  climbed  again 
into  the  saddle.  It  was  pitch  dark,  and  the  moon 
was  not  due  for  an  hour  yet.  The  general  gloom  of 
the  situation  was  heightened  by  a  prolonged  neigh 


234  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

of  melancholy  and  general  hopelessness  from  my 
horse,  which  accentuated  the  dreariness  of  my  situa- 
tion. 

It  was  a  ghostly  place.  Three  centuries  ago  in  this 
valley  the  fine  flower  of  Portuguese  chivalry,  headed 
by  their  youthful  and  daring  king,  Dom  Sebastian, 
were  surrounded  and  cut  off  by  the  numberless  host 
of  the  terrible  Sultan  Abd-el-Melet.  The  fate  of  the 
young  and  gallant  king  was  never  known  with 
historical  certainty,  and  the  legend  still  runs  among 
the  peasants  of  Lusitania,  that  he  lives  a  captive 
among  the  Moors,  and  that  some  day  he  will  return 
to  right  all  their  wrongs  and  give  redress  to  their 
many  grievances.  Dom  Sebastian  was  probably 
buried  alive  in  the  walls  of  Mekinez,  as  were  most 
certainly  so  many  of  his  luckless  followers.  If  you 
ever  wander  by  the  walls  of  this  city  where  so  many 
thousand  Christian  captives  wore  killed,  or,  worse  still, 
died  working  in  chains  for  their  Moorish  masters,  now 
and  then,  but  not  often  enough  to  attract  the  atten- 
tion of  the  observing  Moors,  tap  the  walls  with  your 
riding  crop,  and  you  will  shudder  at  the  hollow 
sepulchral  sound  they  give  forth.  The  walls  contain 
hundreds  and  even  thousands  of  bricked-up  cells 
in  which,  while  living.  Christians  were  immured  for  re- 
fusing to  renounce  their  creed  and  join  in  the  FatJia. 

"  Ilamdillah  ;  Praise  be  to  God.  The  Lord  of  all 
creatures.  The  Most  Merciful.  The  King  of  the 
Day  of  Judgment.  To  Thee  do  we  bow  down,  and 
of  Thcc  do  wc  implore  assistance,  etc.,  etc."  It  seems 
to  me  one  could  do  worse  things  than  to  say  such  a 
pr.iyer.     And   the  legend   runs  that  after  the  battle 


FROM  FEZ    TO   FLEET  STREET.  235 

was  lost  and  won  the  Emi'n  of  the  Sultan  proclaimed 
the  hour  of  prayer  and  the  greatness  of  the  only 
True  God  from  a  minaret  constructed  of  the  heads  of 
the  ten  thousand  Christians  who  that  day  had  fallen 

in  fighting  for  their  faith 

But  now  the  decisive  moment  had  come.  Should  I 
turn  my  pony's  head  down  stream  or  up  ?  Was 
Alkesar  on  my  right  or  on  my  left?  But  Mulai 
Hassan— my  pony,  not  his  Shereefian  Majesty — 
absolutely  refused  to  accept  any  responsibility  in  the 
matter.  When  I  threw  the  reins  on  his  neck  that  he 
might  go  where  he  listed,  he  preferred  to  stand  stock 
still,  shivering  with  the  cold,  and  almost  shaking  me 
out  of  the  saddle.  So  finally  I  chose  for  going  up 
stream,  and  luckily  so.  I  had  not  gone  more  than 
a  mile  when  the  moon  rose,  and  the  white  city 
appeared  suddenly  before  me.  By  day  there  is 
nothing  striking  about  Alkesar,  but  it  was  a  beautiful 
sight  in  the  clear  moonlight  that  burnished  up  the 
crenellated  walls  of  the  city  with  its  koubbas  and 
square  towers  of  mosques,  and  covered  up  in  silvery 
vagueness  all  the  signs  of  decay  and  neglect  so  plain 
in  the  searching  sunlight.  In  this  light  alone  you 
can  see  a  Moorish  city  aright.  As  it  glistened  there 
before  me,  it  seemed  clothed  in  white  immaculate 
samite,  though  in  the  searching  light  of  the  morning 
it  wore  a  very  different  garb  indeed. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

FROM    FEZ   TO   FLEET   STREET — {Continued). 

Storming  a  city  at  midnight— A  silent  recruit  — At  H'mam 
Slawi's  house — The  holy  birds — Saidia,  the  Houssa  negrcss 
— A  battle  for  a  mule — Staying  where  I  was  not  wanted — 
"  Napping,"  but  not  to  be  caught — Hurrying  home — The 
night  journey  to  Tangier — I  miss  the  steamer — Crossing 
the  Straits  in  a  falucca — Between  the  old  world  and  the 
new — El  Cuerpo  !  El  Cucrpo  : — An  cx-M.r.— My  little 
day  and  its  speedy  cr.d. 

Once  again  the  feeling  came  over  me  that  1  had 
come  on  a  fool's  errand.  I  was  approaching  a  city 
where  I  had  never  been  before,  and  where  I  only 
knew  the  name  of  one  man.  Tlie  gates  of  the 
uiedinah  at  least  must  have  been  closed  ever  since 
sunset,  and  there  was  really  no  chance  of  getting  in 
to  the  inner  city  where  my  acquaintance  H'mam 
Slawi  lived,  until  morning.  The  keys  of  the  city  la)', 
as  I  knew,  under  the  liashaw's  pillow,  and  I  did  not 
see  what  influence  I  could  bring  to  bear  on  that 
worthy  that  would  make  him  give  them  up.  So  that 
instead  of  facilitating  matters,  my  hurried  march  in 
advance  of  the  c.iravan  proved  rather  a  misforlunci 
and  it  seemed  the  only  thing  left  for  me  was  to  wait 
humbly  outside  the  city  gates  and  shiver  for  my  pains 


FRO.\f  FEZ    TO   FLEET   STREET. 


237 


until  the  caravan  came  along,  when  we  could  camp 
and  wait  for  daylight.  Still,  I  determined  to  have 
one  bang  on  the  copper-bound  doors  of  the  city,  so  I 
rode  through  the  suburbs  with  any  number  of  yelping 


Storming  a  sleeping  City. 
From  "  The  Daily  Graphic,"  by  permission. 

curs  at  my  heels,  who  passed  me  on  from  one  gang 
to  another  with  unfailing  watchfulness.  In  a  few 
minutes  I  came  to  the  high,  crumbling  wall  that  sur- 
rounds the  medinah.     The  huge  copper  gates  were 


238  MOROCCO  AS   IT  IS. 

indeed  closed,  and  with  a  laugh  at  the  serio-comic 
situation,  I  pulled  my  pistol  out  of  the  holster  and 
banged  away  with  the  stock  on  the  copper  fretwork 
of  the  ancient  gates.  This  seemed  to  me  the  proper 
course  to  pursue  under  the  circumstances,  but  no  one 
came  in  response  to  my  mighty  summons.  No  one  ! 
Nothing  stirred  ;  and  so  I  must  wait  for  the  caravan. 
I  had  just  come  to  this  forlorn  conclusion  when  I 
heard  the  sound  of  an  approaching  cavalcade.  There 
was  no  mistaking  it  for  the  painful  sounds — the 
"  errahs  ! ''  and  the  "  errahais  !'^ — which  would  un- 
doubtedly precede  the  approach  of  our  limping 
caravan.  These  men  were  evidently  well  mounted. 
They  came  along  the  road  at  a  clanking  pace,  and  I 
could  hear  the  unmistakable  rattle  of  arms — of  guns 
and  of  sabres,  and  so  I  concluded,  and  rightly,  that 
the  new  arrivals  were  soldiers.  In  a  moment  I  had 
made  my  plan.  At  all  events,  it  was  better  than 
waiting  out  here  in  the  cold  for  hours  with  the  very 
strong  probability  that  our  animals  had  broken  down 
entirel)',  and  the  caravan  come  to  a  halt  for  the  night, 
on  the  other  side  of  the  river ;  so  I  rode  away  from 
the  gate  about  100  yards  to  meet  the  cavalcade, 
turned  up  a  lane,  and  waited  in  the  shadow  of  the 
wall  until  they  came  by.  They  were  soldiers,  who 
had  come  that  day  from  Laraiche,  and  very  far  from 
cheerful  they  were  at  the  thought  that  they  were 
billetted  to  join  the  expeditionary  force  to  attack 
H'mam  in  the  Anjhera  highlands. 

Putting  my  tcrai  hat  in  in)-  saddle-bag,  and  draw- 
ing the  hood  of  my  Sclliaui  closely  over  my  face,  with 
nothing  visible  but  my  burnous  folds  and    Moorish 


FROM  FEZ    TO   FLEET  STREET.  239 

riding-boots,   I    hoped  to  pass    muster  as  a   Moor. 
Soon  as  the  cavalcade  came  along"  I  emerged  from  the 
shadow  and  joined  the  soldiers  as  unostentatiously  as 
possible.     They  numbered  about  twenty,  and  none 
of  them  noticed  or  paid  any  attention  to  the  silent 
recruit.     We  reached  the  gate,  and  the  soldiers  very 
soon  awoke  the  sleeping  douabs  or  turnkeys.    I  found 
that  my  knock  with  the  pistol  was  a  very  milk-and- 
water  summons  indeed.    My  new  friends  fired  off  their 
guns,  and  in  a  few  minutes  the  door  opened,  and  I 
at  least  was  inside  the  same  walls  with  H'mam  Slawi, 
the  proud  possessor  of  the  celebrated  mule  I  coveted 
to  carry  me  on  to  Tangier.     Having  enlisted,  I  must 
now  desert,  so  gradually  I  dropped  to  the  rear  of  the 
cavalcade,  and  then   dismounted   and  examined   my 
horse's   hoof  with    earnest    scrutiny.     The   soldiers 
rode  on,  and  as  they  paid  no  attention  to  me,  I  dis- 
appeared down  a  side  street.     It  was  eleven  o'clock 
now.     The    streets    were   deserted,   and    though     T 
flattered  myself  that  I  had  got  into  the  city  with  some 
cleverness,  it  did  not  appear  quite  plain  how  I  was  to 
find  Slawi's  house,  unless  some  benevolent /z;;  should 
be  so   kind  as  to  indicate  the  way.     Thinking  the 
soldiers  were  now  safe  asleep  in  the  Governor's  house, 
I    rode   back    into    the    main   street  and  began   my 
quest.     Yes,  there  were  some  people  still  awake  in 
Alkesar,  and  sharper  eyed  they  were,  too,  than  the 
Laraiche  soldiers.     They  detected  the  sirrane  in  spite 
of  his  orthodox  Moorish  garb.     As   I  rode  through 
the  stillness  of  the   night   I   heard   lisped  through  a 
jasmine  lattice  by  a  soft,  musical  voice,  "  Bon  soir, 
madame,"  doubtless  the  return  of  the  salutation  made 


240  MOROCCO   AS   IT   IS. 

to  the  invisible  she  by  some  gallant  Gaul  who  had 
preceded  me  in  this  benighted  quarter  of  the  globe. 
You  can  make  a  woman  who  only  peers  at  you 
through  a  jasmine  lattice  as  beautiful  as  you  please, 
especially  if  she  but  have  a  musical  voice.  Still  I 
rode  sternly  on,  on  what  would  seem  my  hopeless 
quest  after  H'mam  Slawi  and  his  mule  that  was 
reputed  to  carry  the  fat  unwieldy  merchant  to 
Tangier  in  sixteen  hours.  Truly  my  virtue  was  re- 
warded. Some  300  yards  further  on  I  met  an  Aska)\ 
or  foot  soldier,  slinking  suspiciously  along  the  road. 
With  2.  peseta  in  one  hand  and  my  whip  in  the  other, 
thus  balancing,  as  I  thought,  very  neatly  the  suaviter 
and  i\\e  fortiter,  I  said  ^'  El  dar  IrVviavi  Slawi  I'  and 
wound  up  with  the  obligatory  "  dabba,  dabba."  This 
was  my  man.  The  voice  as  of  one  in  authority  that 
I  had  assumed  impressed  him,  and  he  started  off  in 
a  jog  trot,  and  in  five  minutes  H'mam  Slawi  was 
awakened  by  a  tremendous  thumping  on  his  gate. 
H'mam  finally  unbarred,  and  received  me,  I  must 
say,  with  more  surprise  than  cordiality.  Our  ac- 
quaintance had  commenced  and — as  he  doubtless 
thouf;ht — ended  in  an  attempt  he  had  made,  some 
six  weeks  before,  to  sell  me  an  unsound  horse  at  a 
goodi.sh  price.  Nevertheless  he  condescended  to 
pay  me  the  usual  "compliments,"  and  said  he  was 
grateful  to  the  favouring  stars  that  had  lighted  me 
to  his  gates.  He  shivered  sympathetically  as  he 
touched  my  damp  clothes,  but,  at  the  same  time  he 
did  not  offer  to  replace  them  with  dry  ones.  On  the 
whole  I  saw  that  II 'main  was  very  far  from  being  in 
a  frame  of  mind  in  which  I  could  expect  him  to  hand 


FROM   FEZ    TO   FLEET  STREET. 


241 


over  his  favourite  mule  to  my  tender  mercies. 
"  After  compliments  "  we  sat  down  cross-legged  on 
the  floor,  and  the  inevitable  mint-tea  and  sweets  were 
served  by   Saidia,    a    very  comely   Houssa   negress. 


At  H'mam  Slawi's  House. 

Fiom  "  The  Daily  Graphic,^'  by  permission. 


Amiable  and  smiling  as  I  was  to  H'mam,  it  was  as 
nothing  to  the  purring,  ingratiating  ways  I  adopted 
in  my  intercourse  with  Saidia  ;  for,  be  it  known,  the 
Houssa  negress  knows  and  administers  a  poison  in 

R 


242  MOROCCO  AS   IT  IS. 

comparison  with  which  prussic  acid  is  as  milk  and 
water.  As  a  general  thing  they  do  not  poison  from 
interest  or  passion,  but  merely  out  of  motives  of 
human  kindness.  "  That  man  has  the  evil  eye,  I  will 
send  him  to  God,"  they  say,  and  in  a  minute  you  are 
expedited  to  the  next  world  with  all  your  baggage  of 
sins  unconfcsscd. 

I  cannot  truthfully  say  that  H'mam  killed  the 
fatted  calf  in  my  honour,  but  when  I  did  venture  to 
tell  him  that  the  sweets  were  almost  too  rich  for  me 
he  had  Saidia  bring  in  some  very  stringy  veal  and 
koiiscous.  I  was  so  hungry  that  I  had  quite  finished 
before  I  noticed  that  in  lieu  of  knife  and  fork,  I  had 
got  on  very  well  with  my  fingers.  Then  H'mam 
anointed  me  with  rose  water  and  lit  his  kief  pipe, 
and  Saidia  brought  in  more  mint-tea.  We  were 
seated  in  the  Saleiii/ik,  or  male  wing,  of  H 'mam's 
house,  which  was  only  one  storey  high,  though  it  was 
large  and  divided  into  four  separate  pavilions — one 
where  we  sat,  the  Ilarenilik  or  women's  pavilion,  the 
apartment  devoted  to  cooking  and  domestic  arrange- 
ments, and  the  stables,  from  which  we  were  very 
closely  observed  by  the  mule  whose  fate  was  trembling 
in  the  balance.  In  the  middle  of  the  (juadranglc 
formed  by  these  buildings  there  pla)'ed  a  fountain 
of  the  most  evil-smelling  water,  thiit  made  me  under- 
stand very  well  wli\-  the  death  rate  of  Alkesar  is  con- 
sidered, I  believe,  the  highest  in  the  world.  A  brace 
of  storks  marched  up  and  down  the  court-yard, 
taking  a  melancholy  interest  in  the  proceedings  by 
which  they  had  been  disturbed.  These  birds  arc 
regarded  as  holy  and  sacred  in   Morocco,  and  they 


FROM   FEZ    TO   FLEET  STREET.  243 

have  such  a  good  time  of  it  that  they  do  not  migrate 
at  all  as  they  do  in  Holland,  where,  however,  they 
have  certainly  no  reason  to  complain  of  their  treat- 
ment. 

As  we  each  smoked  our  own  national  narcotics, 
and  braced  ourselves  for  the  diplomatic  battle,  Slawi 
was  evidently  preparing  a  horse  deal,  and  I  was 
puzzling  my  brains  as  to  how  I  could  get  his  mule. 
I  was  indeed  very  weary  and  worn  out,  but  fleas  and 
all  manner  of  Ungeziefer  joined  with  my  desire  for 
the  mule  to  keep  me  awake,  though  my  wet  boots 
and  wringing  wet  clothing  and  the  damp  night  air 
tended  to  make  me  as  wretched  and  uncomfortable 
as  I  have  ever  been.  And  then  the  thought  that 
came  to  me  that,  whether  I  got  the  mule  or  not,  I 
was  bound  to  remain  in  his  house  all  night,  enjoying 
his  cheerless  hospitality,  was  far  from  comforting. 
Still,  let  it  be  said  'to  my  credit,  I  did  have  the 
presence  of  mind  to  inquire  of  Saidia  how  much  she 
weighed,  which  is  about  the  most  complimentary 
remark  you  can  address  to  a  Houssa  negress.  When 
tea  was  handed  round  again,  I  confess  that,  with  the 
vision  of  that  quick  ambling  mule  before  me,  I  threw 
overboard  every  atom  of  self-respect.  I  lapped  up 
Human's  tea  with  a  tremendous  smacking  of  the  lips, 
in  the  way  I  had  learnt  in  the  East,  and  when  I  had 
lapped  up  the  very  last  drop  of  it — I  blush  at  the 
confession,  but  I  must  say  it— I  belched  once— twice 
—  thrice.  After  this  compliment  to  his  entertainment, 
it  seemed  to  me  that  Slawi  was  considerably  mollified, 
and  when  I  added  that  I  regarded  my  not  having 
taken  his  horse  at  the  price  he  had  so  kindly  offered 

R  2 


244  MOROCCO  AS   IT  IS. 

it  as  the  mistake  of  my  life,  he  actually  smiled  and 
seemed  pleased.  Thus  encouraged,  I  put  the  pro- 
position in  the  most  attractive  form  I  knew.  Would 
he  hire  me  his  mule  for  twenty  Spanish  dollars  ?  It 
would  be  returned  in  four  days,  and  the  "  Great 
White  Father  "  in  Washington  would  doubtless  send 
him  some  recognition  of  the  kindness  he  had  shown 
to  a  wandering  citizen  from  the  States.  "  I  would 
not  lend  my  mule  to  the  Sultan  ;  no,  not  even  to  a 
saint  ! "  was  H 'man's  stout  rejoinder,  and  the  only 
reply  I  got.  This  seemed  very  conclusive — my  hopes 
were  dashed  to  the  ground. 

Soon  we  were  joined  by  H'mam  Slawi  senior,  with 
a  venerable  beard,  but  most  villainous  eyes,  and 
H'mam  Slawi,  the  third  of  his  name — a  butterball  of 
a  boy,  who  looked  very  comical  in  his  long,  flowing 
dress  as  he  chanted  the  first  Surah  of  the  Koran  (the 
only  thing  he  knew  in  this  wide  world)  to  keep  from 
falling  asleep.  The  Slawis  sat  blinking  their  owl- 
like eyes,  and  we  seemed  in  for  an  all-night  session. 
I  was  very  uncomfortable  in  my  cross-legged  position 
which  made  me  very  accessible  to  the  inroads  of  the 
invisible  and  annoying  enemy.  My  patience  and  my 
power  of  persuasion  being  alike  exhausted,  I  began 
to  get  angry,  and  thought  at  least  that  if  ITmam 
would  not  let  nie  have  his  mule,  he  might  let  me 
sleep.  My  discontent  deepened  when  one  of  his 
servants,  who  had  been  placed  on  watch  at  the 
Mcdinah  gate,  came  in  and  announced  that  the 
caravan  iiad  arrived,  and  was  encamped  in  a  neigh- 
bouring garden.  The  thought  of  W.  C.  alone  un- 
loading  tliat   "drink"  mule  was  maddening,  and   I 


FROM  FEZ    TO   FLEET  STREET.  245 

was  about  to  take  an  unceremonious  leave  when,  by 
a  new  shuffle  of  the  cards — Presto  ! — everything  was 
changed,  and  H'mam  was  handed  over  to  me,  bound 
hand  and  foot,  and  the  mule  was  mine.     The  residence 
of  the  tribe  of  Slawi  was  situated   in  a  blind  alley 
very  much   like  a  cite  of  Old  Paris,     The  gate  which 
I   had  had  so  much  difficulty  in  having  opened,  was 
the  joint  entrance  of  some  half  a  dozen  other  house- 
holders.    Suddenly  I  began  to  comprehend  all  the 
whispering  and  the  mysterious  conference  with  white- 
robed    visitors    to    which    H'mam    had   been   called 
away    as    I    sat    on  my  cushion    of   torture.      The 
neighbours,  it  seems,  were  troubled  and  even  indignant 
that  an   unclean  Christian  should  be  housed,  if  even 
only  for  a   night,  on   consecrated  ground,  and  they 
had  been  making  serious  representations  to  H'mam 
that    evidently    troubled    the  old   horse-dealer  very 
much.     The   relays  of  tea,  it  seemed,  had  not  been 
served  in  unreserved  hospitality,  but  in  the  hope  that 
each  cup  might  prove  the  nightcap,  and  that  I  would 
take  myself  off.     It  was  unpleasant  to  know  that  I 
had  stayed  where   I  was  not  wanted,  but  after  the 
first  unpleasantness  of  the  thought  was  over,  I  saw 
quite  clearly  that  if  I  only  continued  to  make  myself 
a  nuisance    a   little   longer,   the  much-coveted  mule 
would  be  mine.     H'mam   could   not  afford    to  lose 
caste  or  irritate  his  neighbours,  and  I  could  see  that 
he  was  already  wondering  how   in  the  world  to  get 
rid  of  me  ;    the    loan    of  that    mule  was  my  price. 
With  quiet  determination   I    rearranged  my  pillows, 
and,  stretching  myself  out  at  full  length  on  the  floor, 
feigned  sleep.     As  I  began  to  snore  most  stentorously, 


246  AfOROCCO   JS   IT  IS. 

there  was  a  look  of  such  blank  dismay  on  the  faces 
of  the  Slawis — father,  son,  and  boy — that  I  nearly 
burst  out  into  laughter,  which  would  have  spoilt  my 
whole  game.  y\s  I  snored  the  muttering  in  the 
court-yard  became  louder.  At  last  I  awoke.  "Hire 
me  your  mule,  H'mam  ;  I  want  to  take  him  to  the 
camp  to-night." 

His  sleepy  eyes  flashed  as  I  spread  out  Spanish 
dollars.  Still  he  hesitated  ;  the  mule  was  evidently 
the  apple  of  his  e)'e.  All  I  had  heard  about  it  then 
was  true.  His  c)'e, as  though  in  search  of  inspiration, 
wandered  across  the  court-yard.  The  entrance  to  the 
Haremlik  opposite  was  curtained  off,  but  through  the 
curtain  was  stretched  a  shapely  hand  which  now 
shaped  itself  into  a  decidedly  emphatic  gesture. 
Yes!  I  know  it  was  not  for  my  beaux  ycux  i\\\\t  I 
got  the  mule.  Sultana.  It  was  because  you  were 
bored  to  extinction.  Saidia  brought  out  the  mule, 
tied  a  charm  around  its  neck,  and  in  five  minutes  I 
was  in  the  camp,  and  delighted  to  find  that  W.  C. 
had  not  entirely  unloaded  the  precious  pack  of  the 
"  drink  "  mule.  Our  men  were  sleeping  like  logs,  and 
after  endeavouring  to  erect  our  "simple  portable 
tent,''  which  was  really  as  complicated  as  a  Chinese 
puzzle,  wc  went  to  sleep  al  ficsco  once  again.  1  liad 
some  suspicion  that  with  the  morning  might  come 
clearer  counsel  ;  that  H'mam  might  reconsider  the 
question  and  want  his  nuile  back  by  fair  means  or 
foul,  so  I  slept  with  the  halter  of  my  prize  fastened  to 
my  belt. 

Just  as  day  was  breaking  we  went  to  sleep,  sub 
tf^miue.  fagi,  like  the   ]ierf)cs  and  the  heroines  of  the 


FROM  FEZ    TO   FLEET   STREET.  2^7 

Heroides,  No  heroines  appeared  in  our  garden, 
however,  and  their  absence  was  only  accentuated  by 
the  appearance  in  the  morning  of  an  old  hag  with 
one  tooth,  who  screamed  and  nearly  fainted  when  I 
pulled  my  terai  apart  into  two  hats  for  her  instruc- 
tion. W.  C.  gave  her  a  peseta  because,  as  he  said, 
she  was  so  ugly— very  bad  reasoning,  I  thought.  But 
I  must  now  tell  the  truth  which  the  above  pleasantries 
were  intended  to  conceal.  Instead  of  waking  up  at 
eight  o'clock,  we  slept  on  until  well  in  the  afternoon. 
I  should  say  my  sleep  must  have  been  troubled,  as 
I  found  on  waking  that  I  had  rolled  some  twenty 
yards  away  from  the  shadow  of  the  fig  tree,  and 
found  myself  bareheaded  in  the  sun  with  a  splitting 
headache  and  in  a  profuse  perspiration.  After  pull- 
ing myself  together  with  plentiful  douches' at  the 
well,  I  began  to  look  about  me  and  see  all  the  con- 
fusion that  the  night  had  wrought  in  our  camp,  and 
in  our  plans. 

Every  one  of  our  men  had  disappeared.  It  was 
only  after  long  search  that  I  discovered  Salem  hidden 
away  behind  a  pomegranate  bush,  with  his  head 
between  his  knees,  crooning  away  to  himself,  and 
evidently  very  wretched.  "  Our  muleteers  ?  Where 
are  our  men  ? "  "  They  are  all  gone,  and  are  not 
coming  back,"  said  Salem,  with  tears  in  his  eyes. 
He  had  followed  Kaid  Sudek  into  the  holy  precincts 
of  a  mosque,  where,  knowing  we  could  not  follow 
him,  he  had  taken  sanctuary,  Howsi  had  gone  away 
to  see  a  witch- woman  about  his  swollen  eye,  and  she 
had  said  he  must  not  let  a  Christian  look  upon  him 
for  a  week  to  come  ;  and  Boazza,  to  whom  we  owed 


248  MOROCCO  AS  IT  IS. 

a  clear  month's  wages,  had  gone  away  without  leaving 
an  address.  He  told  Salem  emphatically  that  he 
"would  rather  eat  three  hundred  sticks,"  the  expres- 
sion for  getting  three  hundred  lashes,  than  travel 
again  in  our  company,  which  was  not  complimentary. 
Still,  all  would  be  well  if  W.  C.  could  only  get  a 
fresh  mount.  Salem  and  he  went  out  to  search 
the  foiidakSy  and  I  was  left  alone  with  my  dejected 
spirits  and  my  prize  mule. 

This  delay  had  reduced  my  margin  of  spare  time 
hideously.  The  mail  steamer  for  England  was 
expected  at  Gibraltar  from  Malta  on  the  following 
night.  In  our  condition,  and  with  our  mounts  I  had 
no  hope  of  doing  the  seventy  miles  in  the  night  and 
of  catching  the  Tangier  steamer,  which  would  leave 
at  noon  on  the  following  day  for  Gibraltar.  Unless 
the  mail  steamer  was  much  belated  we  could  not 
hope  to  catch  it.  I,  indeed,  prayed  fervently  that 
adverse  wind  and  stress  of  weather  might  overtake 
her.  About  six  o'clock  W .  C.  returned  flushed  with 
pride,  and  dragging  after  him — well,  a  mule.  Adjec- 
tives are  absolutely  inadequate  to  describe  that  mule. 
Salem  slipped  up  on  Veuve  Cliquot,  and  before  seven 
o'clock  wc  passed  out  of  the  city  gates.  We  rode 
till  midnight,  when  we  supped,  and  then  went  on 
straight  till  six  o'clock  in  the  morning,  when  we 
camped  and  slept  for  two  lK)urs  on  the  beautiful 
wooded  heights  above  J^i  ( iharbecy.i,  and  as  the  sun 
arose  the  Shcrga  or  Sirocco  wind  that  had  pursued 
us  relentlessly  along  tiie  trail  from  I'cz  died  away, 
and  the  Gerba  or  west  wind  from  the  Atlantic  braced 
us  like  a  tonic.     With    the  cooling  breeze  at  midday 


FROM  FEZ    TO   FLEET  STREET.  249 

we  reached  Hiwarra,  and  saw  once  again  the  sea. 
By  four  in  the  afternoon,  gladdened  with  the  news 
that  the  wire  had  brought  from  Malta— that  the  mail 
steamer  was  not  only  late,  but  thirty  hours  late— I 
sat  on  a  three-legged  stool  in  the  Tangier  telegraph 
office  and  cabled  the  startling  history  of  the  British 
Mission  to  Fez,  which  the  Blue  Book  plus  Mr. 
Lowther  in  the  House  of  Commons  has  now  con- 
firmed. That  evening  several  American  sovereigns 
sojourning  in  Mauritania  gave  us  a  banquet,  which  was 
a  dangerous  invitation  to  accept,  for  the  hospitality 
of  American  sovereigns,  be  it  known,  is  whole  soul 
and  unreserved,  and  exacts  a  response  in  the  same 
generous  spirit  that  it  is  offered.  It  taught  us  a 
lesson  also,  that  while  it  is  bad  to  be  behind  time, 
even  when  you  are  ahead  of  time,  you  are  environed 
about  with  dangers,  and  not  the  least  of  these  dangers 
is  a  banquet  offered  spontaneously  by  proud  fellow- 
countrymen. 

Perhaps  after  all  it  was  only  because  we  dawdled 
a  little  too  long  over  our  packing  the  next  morn- 
ing. But  the  unpleasant  fact  remains  that  when 
we  got  through  the  Custom  House,  where  the  viet- 
tassib  examined  our  luggage  as  though  we  were 
accused  of  spiriting  away  the  Sultanas  favourite — the 
export  of  all  females,  biped,  quadruped,  and,  even 
as  a  strict  interpretation  of  the  law  would  imply, 
centipede,  being  forbidden  in  Morocco — and  as  we 
embarked  on  the  last  shore  lighter,  the  little  steamer 
for  Gibraltar  with  an  ironical  whistle  let  go  her  an- 
chor and  was  ofT,  leaving  us  stewing  in  our  own  juice 
in   Tangier  Bay.     All    the  sufferings  and  hardships 


2  50  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

wc  had  undergone  on  the  journey  from  Fez  to  Tan- 
gier had  been  undergone  in  vain.  We  were  "  left." 
An  hour  had  gone  by  after  landing  before  we  could 
pull  ourselves  together  sufficiently  to  even  consult 
about  the  situation.  The  route  by  land  to  Ccuta 
and  by  the  Spanish  mail  steamer  to  Gib.  was  im- 
possible. For  if  H'man  was  inclined  to  let  us  through 
the  Anjhera  highlands,  the  Sherecfian  soldiers 
certainly  would  not,  and  then  sixty-five  miles  in  the 
twelve  hours  we  had  to  catch  the  Spanish  steamer 
was  more  than  we  could  hope  to  do.  We  cabled 
to  Gib.  for  a  steamer,  but  the  price  demanded 
was  so  fabulous  that  wc  held  this  back  as  a 
last  resort.  Wc  then  commenced  an  inspection 
of  the  faluccas  and  fishing  boats  that  studded  the 
bay,  but  one  after  another  the  .sailors  shook  their 
heads,  and,  pointing  to  outside,  where  the  ever 
turbulent  straits  were  frothed  with  white  caps  by  the 
Levanter,  they  refused  absolutely  all  our  offers. 
Then  we  went  up  the  Kasbar  Hill  and  saw  the 
American  l^ashador,  and  great  indeed  is  his  power 
in  the  land.  He  ordered  Victorino,  the  best  pilot  in 
the.sc  waters,  to  victual  a  boat  for  us  and  to  be  pre- 
pared to  start  in  an  hour.  Victorino  had  already 
refused  a  most  tempting  offer  to  take  us  across,  and 
we  were  rather  afraid  that  he  wouUl  be  angry  at 
having  to  obey  such  imj  erative  orders,  but  on  the 
contrary  he  seemed  delighted.  If  the  liashador  or- 
dered him  to  go,  it  was  all  right,  and  when  we  put 
a  high  premium  up,  contingent  on  his  catching  the 
steamer,  Victorino  started  cheerfully  for  the  Marina 
to  engage  a  crew,  and  wc  to  pack  up  a  cold  luncheon. 


FROM  FEZ    TO  FLEET  STREET. 


251 


At   four  o'clock  .we   were  on   board    the   garlic - 
smelling  falucca,  and   passed  out  of  the  quiet  water 


Crossing  the  Straits  in  a  Falucca. 
From  "  The  Daily  Graphic"  l>y  permission . 

behind  the  remains  of  the  magnificent  mole  the 
English  destroyed  on  leaving  Tangier,  and  entered 
the  bay.      It  was  as  rough,  and  the  waves  were  as 


252  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

unruly,  as  they  looked  from  a  distance.  The  Levan- 
ter blew  as  stiftly  as  we  had  expected,  and,  in  fact, 
everything  came  up  to  our  expectations  with  the 
exception  of  the  falucca's  capacity  to  beat  against  the 
wind,  in  which  we  were  greatly  disappointed — we 
made  no  headway  at  all.  To  our  surprise  and  dismay, 
it  turned  out  that  with  every  tack  we  lost  about  300 
yards.  Wy  sunset  we  could  clearly  see  Cape  Spartel. 
If  we  kept  on  much  longer  in  this  retrograde  fashion, 
in  a  {dw  weeks  we  would  have  been  off  Sandy 
Hook.  As  the  sun  sets  our  keel  is  cutting  through 
the  waters  of  Trafalgar,  consecrated  by  the  life- 
blood  of  the  great  hero.  Even  under  the  depressing 
and  distracting  circumstances  which  attend  our 
journey,  a  sail  through  these  classic  seas,  reminiscent 
of  fable  and  story,  is  an  exquisite  pleasure  and  an 
.'esthetic  delight.  Though  the  race  against  time  is 
steadily  going  against  me,  the  local  genius  of  the 
place  rises  proudly  supreme  to  give  solace  for  my 
bitter  disappointment  ;  with  Abylla  on  m)-  left  and 
Calpc  on  my  right  I  can  forget  for  a  moment 
that  defeat  is  ahead  of  me,  and  that  failure  stares 
mc  mockingly  in  the  face.  I  can  picture  to  myself 
the  slashing  craft  of  the  Argonauts,  with  its  forty 
banks  of  oars — or  was  it  four  ? — with  the  prow  of 
gold  proudly  turned  towards  the  garden  of  the  Iles- 
pcrides.  I  conjure  up  visions  of  the  adventurous 
craft  of  the  commercial  Phccnicians,  the  trireme  of 
the  Romans,  and  the  caravel  of  Columbus,  with  its 
keen-eyed  look-out  ever  watchful  f(ir  where  the  waste 
of  unexplored  waters  shall  end  in  vap(jury  chaos. 
What  scenes  these  translucent  depths  have  reflected, 


FROM  FEZ    TO   FLEET  STREET.  253 

those  frowning  pillars  of  Hercules  looked  upon ! 
Here  on  the  morning  of  that  ever-glorious  day 
Nelson  sailed  away  to  meet  the  French  off  Trafalgar, 
and  with  the  light  of  history,  or  is  it  legend  ?  to  guide 
me,  I  live  through,  if  only  in  imagination,  the  scene 
on  the  quarter-deck  of  the  Victory.  I  seem  to  hear  the 
outspoken  disappointment  of  the  bluejackets  as  from 
the  birdcage  of  Gibraltar  is  hung  out  a  signal  re- 
calling the  fleet,  and  I  see  the  tears  welling  from 
Hardy's  eyes,  and  the  gaunt  gray  figure  of  Nelson, 
as,  calmly  placing  a  telescope  to  his  blind  eye,  he 
says,  "  Signal  of  recall  ?  I  do  not  see  it.  Clap  on 
all  sail,  my  lads  ;  we  have  rendezvous  with  the 
French  off  Trafalgar." 

The  Levanter  still  blows  down  the  straits  in  our 
teeth,  and  it  seems  as  though  it  were  focussed  upon 
our  weak  little  undecked  craft.  Tossed  hither  and 
thither,  we  drift  helplessly  about  on  the  boundary  of 
the  old  world  and  the  new.  A  misty  rain  comes 
driving  down,  and  for  a  few  minutes  the  bowsprit  is 
our  horizon.  But  I  can  still  see  with  my  mind's  eye, 
on  the  golden  ducat  of  the  great  Charles,  the  image 
of  those  frowning  pillars  of  granite,  with  the  for- 
bidding legend  they  then  bore  to  the  world,  "  Ne  plus 
ultra  ;  "  "  Thus  far  but  no  farther  shalt  thou  venture." 
And  I  recalled  with  the  pleasure  of  a  Westerling 
these  same  pillars  imaged  on  the  Mexican  doubloon 
of  to-day  with  the  greeting  of  the  new  world  to  the 
old,  "Plus  ultra;  plus  ultra."  The  days  when  the 
mind  was  thrall  to  matter,  when  a  veil  of  ignorance  and 
superstition,  which  none  dared  rend,  hung  suspended 
from   these  mighty  shafts  of  rock,   have  gone.     No 


254  MOROCCO  AS   IT  IS. 

longer  burnt  offerings  and  heathen  sacrifices  arc 
made  in  abject  and  superstitious  veneration  at  their 
base  ;  and,  as  we  journey  on  our  modern  Odysscys, 
devoid  of  danger  and  replete  with  every  comfort,  I 
fear  me,  oh,  Mons.  Abylla  and  Mons.  Calpe,  we 
pass  you  by  with  a  pitying  smile  and  with  but 
languid  interest ;  and  what  is  worse — much  worse, 
we  call  you  contemptuously  "Monkey  Hill"  and 
'*  Old  Gib."  It  is  difficult,  it  is  unpleasant  now  to 
remember  that  only  forty  years  ago  the  Sultan  was 
the  exacting  toll-keeper  of  the  Herculean  Straits. 
But  when  the  Saracen  was  king,  yonder  tall  moun- 
tain played  proud  roles,  and  much  was  written  of 
their  majestic  heights  by  the  chroniclers  who  came 
from  Yemen  and  Araby  ;  they  called  you  "  Monkey 
Hill,"  Jicbel  Moussa,  the  mountain  of  Moses,  and 
}'0U,  Old  Gib.,  you  were  dubbed  Jicbel  Tarik,  for 
Prince  Tarik,  who  first  led  the  wild  hordes  of 
Mauritania  into  the  promised  lands  of  Andalusia. 
But  the  moths  feed  upon  these  chronicles  as  they 
crumble  away  in  the  libraries  of  Sevilia  and  Karouin, 
and  the  pipes  of  the  Black  Watch  arc  playing  now  in 
the  Halls  of  Trincc  Tarik.  .  .  . 

The  moon  rises,  and  the  Levanter  seems  to  have 
done  its  worst.  W'c  creep  up  slowly  under  the  head- 
land of  Tarifa.  The  clouds  are  blown  away,  and 
suddenly,  as  wc  round  the  point,  ihe  look-outcries, 
"  El  Cucrpf)  !  ICl  Cuerpo  !  "  and  I  saw  for  the  first 
time  the  justice  of  the  simile  that  the  Spanish  sailors 
never  fail  to  make,  which  I  had  never  observed 
before.  The  crest — the  contour  of  the  brow  of 
Gibraltar   rock — is   fashioned  by  the  sculptor  of  the 


FROM  FEZ    TO   FLEET   STREET.  255 

world  to  resemble  the  form  of  an  inanimate  woman, 
perfect,  natural,  and  beautiful  in  every  way — reclining 
on  the  top  of  the  mountain,  awaiting   only  the  life- 
giving  breath.     "  When   will   we  get  into  Gib.? "     I 
finally  cried  in  despair  to  Victorino.      "  By  eleven 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  I  am   sure,"  he  cries.     Then 
I  hear  a  croaking  voice — the   voice  of  the  Barbary 
Jew  who,  with  his  black  skull  cap,  sits  in  the  bow 
of  the    boat  and  looks  so  out  of  place  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  crew.     And  with    trembling    I    hear  his 
dolorous      reproach    to     the      sanguine     Spaniard, 
"  Honibre  I  Honibre  I  no  marca  ora  " — "  Man  !     Man  ! 
do  not  specify  an  hour."     But  shortly  after  midnight 
the  Levanter  dies  away,  and  in  half  an  hour  all  the 
foam  and  the  froth  of  the  waves  have  subsided.     The 
moon  and  the  stars  flood  the  seas  with  their  silvery 
licfht.     The  eddies  and  the  currents  of  the  tide  and 
the  whirlpool  sweep  us  about  and  send  us  in  zigzag 
course,  now  under  the  shadow  of  Tarifa,  now  over 
towards  Jiebel  Moussa.     Finally,  seeing  the  premium 
contingent  on  our  early  arrival  at  Gibraltar   slowly 
slipping  from  their   grasp,    the    crew  got  their  oars 
and  began  to   row  a  sweeping  stroke,  the  Spaniards 
singing  the  songs  of  the  Barbary  coast  and  the  Jew 
a  crooning  dirge  which,  for  all   I   know  to  the  con- 
trary,  was    the   song   of  the   Children    of   Israel  in 
bondage — a  bondage  which  was  no  worse  than  that 
which  is  theirs  in  the  land  of  the  Moor.     They  rowed 
with  a  will,  and  at  six  o'clock  we  saw  Europa  Point, 
and  at  seven   disembarked  at  the  "  ragged  staff,"  and 
in  the  afternoon  we  were  off   for   England  on  the 
belated  mail  steamer.     Accustomed  as  we  were  to  the 


256  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

Atlantic  liners,  the  speed  of  this  tub  was  now  simply 
appalling.  She  seemed  to  wallow  in  the  waves,  and 
shirked  going  over  them.  When  we  went  out  from 
the  land-locked  straits  into  the  ocean,  I  approached 
the  captain,  hoping,  with  a  genial  smile  and  an 
Americanism,  to  put  him  on  his  mettle. 

"  Guess,  cap'n,  now  you'll  be  getting  a  move  on." 

"  My  dear  sir,  you  do  not  seem  to  know  that  we 
are  speeding  along  at  almost  twelve  knots  an 
hour." 

It  was  clearly  impossible  to  talk  with  a  captain 
with  so  low  an  ambition,  so  I  talked  with  a  states- 
man who  was  on  board,  endeavouring  to  point  out 
to  him  the  disgrace  of  allowing  British  mails  to  be 
carried  on  such  a  lumbering  hulk.  He  seemed 
interested,  and  for  four  hours  we  strode  up  and  down 
the  deck  together,  until  finally,  completely  exhausted, 
I  fell  back  in  a  chair.  But  all  through  the  night, 
and  all  the  next  day,  the  statesman,  with  a  nervous 
stride,  kept  tramping  backwards  and  forwards  on  the 
deck.  "  What  is  the  matter  ?  "  I  inquired  of  a  pas- 
senger— such  a  one  as  is  always  on  board,  who  knows 
everybody's  business.  "  He  never  sits  down  ;  you 
see  he  has  just  been  defeated  for  Rottenborough. 
When  he  gets  to  England  he  will  have  no  scat. 
Suppose  he  is  training  to  stand/'  was  the  answer. 

Three  days  later  I  drive  from  Victoria  Station  with 
my  heart  as  light  as  air.  I  stop  at  Trafah^ar  Square 
to  buy  the  papers,  and  can  hardly  refrain  from 
cheering  as  I  see  that  the  world  has  no  news  from 
Fez  but  what  I  had  given.  Then  into  my  hansom 
again  and  down    the    Strand.      Ilow    pleasing    it  is 


FROM  FEZ    TO   FLEET  STREET.  257 

to  be  SO  much  wiser  and  better  informed  than 
all  London  ;  to  have  secrets  from  five  milHons  ! 
With  a  sudden  jerk  my  hansom  comes  to  a  stop 
before  the  Engine  which  never  sleeps  ;  but  no — I 
shrink  back.  The  day  is  still  young  ;  the  charwoman 
controls  the  editorial  rooms,  and  why  should  I 
become  commonplace  so  soon — I,  who  for  the 
moment  am  luiiqne  in  London  ?  So  I  wander  into 
Dr.  Johnson's  public  and  enjoy  a  pint  of  bitter  and 
a  slice  of  lark  pie,  revelling  in  the  information  and  the 
■knowledge  that  is  mine  alone.  An  acquaintance  and 
a  confrere  enters  in.  "  Hullo  !  Haven't  seen  you 
for  several  days.  Look  brown.  Been  to  Margate  }  " 
If  he  only  knew!  The  chimes  of  the  Temple  tell 
me  now  of  the  time  that  flies,  and  ring  out  the 
knell  of  my  little  day.  Soon  the  Engine  that  never 
sleeps  has  placed  in  black  and  white  before  the 
world  the  story  of  the  British  Mission  to  Fez.  With 
that  pride  which  apes  humilit}',  on  the  following 
morning  I  ride  in  a  'bus  to  the  City.  On  the  way 
every  one  is  talking  of  the  English  Bashador  and 
his  Mission  to  the  Moorish  Court.  I  prepare  for 
entering  into  the  conversation  with  a  high  hand. 
But  as  I  listen  I  draw  back,  for  alas !  these  good 
people  know  more  than  L  They  are  not  hampered 
by  the  facts  as  I  am,  and  I  draw  back  in  my 
corner  and  sigh.     Yes  ;  my  little  day  is  over. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

OUR   JOURNEY    TO   TETUAN. 

The  White  City  of  the  Dark  Continent — The  salutation  of  saints 
to  speed  the  parting  Christian — Moorish  Americans — The 
boar  hunt  on  the  hill  of  Beharein — The  menace  of  big  feet 
— The  Swani  village — The  "long-distance''  conversation 
of  the  Moors — The  smoking  village — The  blessing  of  Sidi 
Boazza — Arrival  in  Tetuan — Our  lowly  cellar — The  baked 
meats  of  the  Jewish  Sabbath — Audience  with  the  Bashaw 
— A  brace  of  interpreters — We  are  taken  up  and  then 
"  dropped ''  by  the  Tetuani — The  collapse  of  our  social 
aspirations — The  title-deeds  to  Chateaux  d'Espagne — 
Riffians. 

On  reaching  Tangier  vid  Gibraltar  in  December, 
1 891,  by  the  new  line  of  direct  steamers  from  New 
York,  wc  found  the  White  City  of  the  Dark  Continent 
distracted  by  rtimours  of  war,  and  even  a  more  ex- 
citing place  to  dwell  in  than  is  usually  the  case.  Wc 
were  told  in  our  hotel  that  battles  were  fought  every 
morning  before  breakfast  on  the  Malabar  beach, 
between  the  Shcrecfian  forces  and  the  insurgents 
from  the  interior,  but  though  our  friend  Iladj  Kador 
personally  conducted  us  to  these  bloody  battle-fields 
wc  never  surprised  the  alleged  combatants  in  action. 
I  for  one  was  rather  averse,  however,  to  penetrating 
into  the  interior   under  such  circumstances.     It  was 


OUR  JOURNEY   TO    TETUAN.  259 

all  very  well  for  the  genial  editor  of  the  energetic 
newspaper  in  the  far-away  American  town  in  which 
we  lived  to  announce  that  we  proposed  taking  "  our 
hymeneal  tour  into  the  heart  of  Africa/'  but  I  did  not 
feel  called  upon  to  live  up  to  the  sensational  announce- 
ment. D y,  however,  had  developed  the  most  war- 
like proclivities  since  the  day  we  set  foot  on  Paynim 
soil,  and  she  decided  that,  rebellion  or  no  rebellion, 
whether  the  Oued  Ras  tribes  men  were  ^'  out"  or  not, 
our  long-planned  journey  if  only  to  Tetuan  must'come 
off,  even  if  for  no  better  purpose  than  to  safeguard  the 
reputation  for  veracity  of  our  local  editor.  All  day 
long  she  was  engaged  in  pistol  practice  on  the  beach, 
and  any  remonstrances  from  me  as  to  the  advisability 
of  postponing  the  trip  at  such  a  time,  were  greeted 
with  jeers  and  taunts  which  I  shall  not  reproduce 
here.  The  suggestion  I  hazarded  that  Andalusia 
was  perhaps  a  more  suitable  place  to  spend  a  honey- 
moon was  severely  frowned  down  upon.  The  state- 
ment was  perhaps  hardly  necessary  for  the  French 
journal  that  first  kindly  published  our  "Journey  to 
Tetuan,"  but  as  a  sop  to  the  British  matron,  I  think  I 

should  say  that  D y  and  I  had  received,  some  three 

weeks  before,  in  the  presence  of  our  friends,  the 
sanction  of  a  good  bishop  to  travel  together  until  our 
travelling  days  are  over.  Finally,  though  not  with- 
out misgivings  as  to  the  probable  outcome  of  our 
hazardous  journey,  I  gave  orders  for  our  kaffla  or 
caravan  to  assemble  for  the  start  into  the  interior  the 
moment  it  stopped  raining.  This  sounds  rather  pre- 
cipitate after  so  many  hours  spent  in  mature  reflec- 
tion, but  it  really  was  not ;  for  it  did  not  happen  to 

S  2 


26o  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

Stop  raininf^  until  the  ninth  day  after  the  order  was 
given.  Tangier  is  a  charming  winter  resort,  but  I 
have  often  wondered  why  it  is  not  frequented  in 
larger  numbers  by  ducks.  The  weather  during-  the 
winter  solstice  is  certainly  very  suitable  for  the  web- 
footed.  It  is  true  that  it  does  not  rain  all  the  winter, 
but  when  it  docs  rain  it  rains  for  weeks  at  a  time. 
Tangier  is  really  a  summer  city.  From  April  until 
November  the  weather  is  delightful. 

However,  the  sunshine  came  at  last,  and  we  started 
with  the  usual  honours  paid  to  the  hated  Kaffir  as  he 
starts  on  the  journey  inland.  A  saint  swam  out  to 
a  rock  in  the  harbour,  and  there,  with  his  stalwart 
form  glistening  like  bronze  in  the  sunshine,  he  made 
prayers  to  the  only  true  God,  praying  that  all  manner 
of  misfortunes  might  attend  our  adventure.  Another 
saint  we  discovered  en  Jlagrant  delit  of  attempting  to 
spit  on  one  of  our  mules.  No  caravan  survives  this 
insult  upon  one  of  its  four-footed  members,  I  am  told, 
but  our  mule  was  fortunately  very  wary  and  light  with 
her  heels,  so  the  insult,  though  repeatedly  attempted, 
was  never  consummated.  Judging  from  the  deadly 
effects  which  they  ascribe  to  saintly  saliva,  I  sur- 
mise that  the  Moors  were  well  acquainted  with  the 
bacilli    theory  long    before    the    days  of    Koch    and 

I'asteur.     I) y  rode  a  magnificent  Fez  mule,  with 

a  gentle,  easy  gait  that  often  made  me  very  envious 
of  her  mount  ;  for  with  dignity  and  not  comfort  in 
view,  I  rode  a  rat-tailed  m(^use-C(jlourcd  IJarb  which 
was  reputed  to  have  won  the  Corrcda  (jn  the  Malabar 
beach  the  spring  before.  Like  all  other  Barbs  he 
only  had  tw<^  gaits,  a  run  and  a  walk.     The  kajjla  or 


•'••■  -'^^Sofcv' 


f,  (I-.- 


262  MOROCCO  AS   IT  IS. 

caravan  consisted  of  eight  muleteers  and  servants. 
Salem-el-Sheshouani  was  their  ringleader.  He 
styled  himself  my  Khali/a,  or  second  in  command. 
Salem  was  famous  in  the  country  for  a  small 
English  vocabulary  and  very  large  negroid  feet. 
I  would  not  dwell  upon  this  last  personal  disfigure- 
ment if  I  did  not  have  to  add  that  big  feet  in  Morocco 
are  a  virtue  and  absolutely  indispensable  to  a  mule- 
teer. In  choosing  your  man  to  lead  the  caravan  for 
throughout  Morocco,  with  the  exception  of  the 
approaches  to  the  larger  towns,  the  roads  are  so  narrow 
that  you  travel  in  Indian  file — deny  yourself  the  plea- 
sure of  having  a  handsome  brigand-looking  leader. 
He  would  prove  worthless  without  the  adjunct  of  big 
feet.  I  afterwards  discovered  many  more  praise- 
worthy qualities  in  Salem,  qualities  all  the  more 
remarkable  because  more  rare  in  his  country.  But 
it  was  to  the  abnormal  and  fearful  shadows  that  his 
feet  cast  on  the  sands  as  he  rode  by  the  hotel  that 
Salem  first  owed  his  engagement.  This  is  how 
Salem  would  display  his  big  feet  to  the  advantage  of 
his  employer  in  Morocco,  and  this  is  how  we  started 
out  of  Tangier  on  our  roundabout  journey  through 
the  mud  to  Tctuan.  He  first  placed  his  hnnia,  a 
large  flat  saddle,  on  the  leading  mule,  tied  on  the 
pack  with  innumerable  strings,  and  then  adjusting 
the  well-filled  straw  sivarrec,  he  wouUl  spread  his 
haDibrilla^  a  parti-coloured  rug  of  red  ant!  yellow, 
over  the  whole  pack.  lie  was  robed  in  very  full  blue 
knee  breeches  and  a  very  short  green  jacket.  Then 
gravely  assisted  by  one  of  the  other  muleteers  who, 
by  rude  blows  and  strong  language,  Salem  kept  in  a 


OUR  JOURNEY   TO    TETUAN.  263 

state  of  the  most  perfect  subjection  to  him,  he 
would  mount  to  his  perch  and  then  open  an 
umbrella,  orange-coloured,  with  a  yellowy  green 
lining,  to  shield  his  complexion.  Having  now  dis- 
played in  his  make-up  hues  running  through 
the  whole  range  of  colour,  he  would  set  his 
feet  which,  lady  fashion,  dangled  down  one  side  of 
the  burda,  into  a  slow  but  gic^adually  quickening 
vibratory  motion.  The  mule  pricked  up  its  ears  and 
started  off  at  a  quick  pace,  Salem's  huge  ungainly 
feet  now  vibrating  backwards  and  forwards  like  the 
pendulum  of  a  clock.  The  result  was  that  the 
animal  kept  going  at  the  top  of  its  bent  as  long  as 
Salem's  feet  dangled  full  of  menace  behind  its  ears. 
The  animal  evidently  expected  to  be  kicked  in  the 
neck,  and  was  always  stepping  briskly  out  to  avoid 
the  undeserved  punishment.  It  also  struck  me  that 
perhaps  the  monotonous  vibration  of  the  boy's  feet 
had  such  an  enervating  effect  upon  the  animal's 
nervous  system,  that  it  could  not  enjoy  the  pleasure  of 
a  sluggish,  lazying  gait.  Be  this  as  it  may,  we  went 
ahead  at  the  rate  of  some  six  miles  an  hour  whenever 
Salem  led  the  way  and  intimidated  his  mule  by  the 
size  of  his  feet. 

Boazza,  the  only  other  of  the  muleteers  we  admitted 
to  our  family  circle,  entered  my  employ  with  the  worst 
character  in  the  world.  He  was  a  man  of  many  vices, 
the  Tangerines  said.  On  his  downward  path  he 
had,  it  was  rumoured,  sinned  against  every  command- 
ment of  the  decalogue.  He  would  have  been  a 
splendid  object-lesson  for  Sunday-school  teachers 
this  poor  Boazza,  who,  ten  years  before,  had  been  the 


264  MOROCCO   AS   IT  /S. 

richest  householder  in  Rabat.  He  then  owned  houses 
and  many  slaves,  and  was  always  dressed  in  rich,  soft 
raiment,  with  a  delill  or  prayer-book  fastened  to  his 
waist  by  a  slender  cord.  Now  Boazza  wore  rags, 
and  very  few  of  them,  and  drew  the  smallest  salary 
of  any  muleteer  in  Morocco.  He  could  not  afford  a 
fez  or  turban,  so  he  wore  a  piece  of  rope  tied  round 
his  temples  as  headgear.  Me  very  rarely  opened  his 
mouth,  and  when  he  did  it  was  only  to  puff  out  huge 
volumes  of  smoke  which  he  had  apparently  inhaled 
hours  before.  He  was  a  victim  of  the  /vt/habit,  and 
was  also  addicted  to  the  smoking  of  Spanish  cigarettes 
when  he  could  get  them.  His  features  were  noble 
and  commanding.  He  looked  like  a  law-giver,  a 
Lycurgus,  a  noble  Greek  with  a  burnt-cork  com- 
plexion. His  general  appearance  gave  the  lie  boldly 
to  his  antecedents.  When  evening  came,  and  the 
other  muleteers  spread  out  their  prayer-rugs  and  set 
about  their  adoration,  shielded  from  our  unbelieving 
gaze  by  the  underbush,  Boazza  would  sit  down  alone 
and  unabashed  on  his  prayer-rug  and  smoke  kief. 
He  was  evidently  a  I'ositivist,  and,  I  believe,  the  only 
thing  he  felt  perfectly  confident  of  in  this  world  was 
the  pleasure-giving  effects  of  nicotine  and  kief,  and 
other  narcotics,  which  he  indulged  in  when  he  had 
the  money. 

Ten  iniles  from  Tangier,  or  less,  on  the  slopes  of 
l^charein,  or  the  "  hill  between  two  seas,"  we  had  our 
first  boar  hunt.  The  American  Khalifa  had  kindly 
accompanied  us  in  the  hope  of  giving  us  some  good 
sport.  He  had  sent  out  a  servant  the  evening  before 
to  prepare  the  village  of  beaters  for  our  coming,  so 


OUR  JOURNEY   TO    TETUAN.  26$ 

when  we  arrived  at  the  cactus  hedge  that  surrounded 
their  lowly  straw-thatched  huts,  they  were  there 
awaiting  us,  and  sent  up  wild  shouts  of  dehght  on  our 
arrival.  The  Moors  are  ardent  sportsmen.  While  it 
is  nowhere  set  down  in  the  Koran  that  such  will  be  the 
case,  I  am  told  that  the  preachers  in  the  mosques 
never  hesitate  to  promise  the  faithful  plenty  of  boar- 
hunting  in  Paradise.  Our  lunch  was  spread  far  from 
the  village  and  its  unpleasant  atmosphere  on  the  slope 
of  the  mountain,  where  we  enjoyed  a  beautiful  view 
both  of  the  Mediterranean  and  of  the  ocean,  a  view  of 
surpassing  loveliness  from  which  the  mountain  takes 
its  name.  During  luncheon  the  Khalifa  proposed  the 
loyal  toast  of  the  "  Star-Spangled  Banner."  Imagine 
my  surprise  when,  the  toast  hardly  out  of  his  mouth, 
the  hunters  and  the  beaters^  to  the  number  of  some  fifty 
or  sixty,  who  were  sitting  about  us  waiting  hungrily 
for  the  bones  which  we  were  picking  extremely  bare, 
sprang  to  their  feet,  and  shouted  "  Hip,  hip,  hooray  !" 
The  Moorish  accent  of  their  words  made  it  all  the 
more  amusing.  When  I  expressed  my  surprise  to 
the  Khalifa  he  laughed,  and  said,  "  Why  shouldn't 
they  shout  for  the  stars  and  stripes  ?  They  are 
good  Americans,  as  their  fathers  were  before  them. 
We  are  all  American  citizens  here.  Let's  hold  a 
political  meeting." 

The  Khalifa  went  on  to  narrate  how,  sixty  years 
before,  the  village  had  been  taken  under  American 
protection  for  some  reason  by  the  consul  of  that  day, 
and  that  it  had  remained  under  American  protection 
ever  since.  This  practice  was  but  another  abuse  of 
the  protege  system,  but  still  it  certainly  had  its  good 


266  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

usages.  The  men  of  this  village,  the  name  of  which 
I  forget,  were  faithful  and  efficient  servants  of  the 
Legation  and  of  Americans,  because  they  could  look 
forward  with  equanimity  to  the  frequent  changes 
that  new  administrations  bring  about  in  our  consular 
corps.  The  English  Legation  also  is  guilty  of  a 
similar  irregularity.  They  protect  the  village  of 
Swani,  which  is  much  nearer  Tangier.  The  Swani 
men  proved  very  faithful  in  guarding  Sir  John  Hay 
some  forty  years  ago,  when  a  body  of  Ibdowa  horse- 
men set  upon  him,  and  would  probably  have  done 
him  bodily  injury,  because  a  horse  of  his  breeding 
had  proved  superior  in  a  race  on  the  beach  to  their 
champion.  Ever  since  this  episode  the  Swani  men 
have  been  protected  by  the  English  Consulate,  and 
the  servants  and  grooms  of  the  Legation  and  of  the 
attacJuH  are  always  recruited  from  this  village.  The 
Swani  men  and  the  Moorish  Americans,  I  regret  to 
say,  get  along  very  badly  with  one  another.  They 
are  continually  at  strife  and  fighting  as  to  whether 
England  or  America  is  the  most  powerful  nation  of 
the  earth.  Wlun,  some  four  )'ears  ago,  the  Queen 
presented  the  Sultan  with  a  huge  elephant,  the  Swani 
men  were  delighted,  and  the  American  villagers  pro- 
portionately depressed.  However,  they  soon  learneil 
(was  it  at  the  American  Consulate  ?)  that  the  Sultan 
of  America  was  about  to  send  the  Sultan  Muley 
Hassan  an  animal  so  large  that  the  clrphant  would 
seem  in  comparison  to  him  but  as  an  insignificant 
insect.  This  vague  rumour  gradually  assumed  the 
form  and  carried  the  weight  of  an  official  announce- 
ment that  the  next  Amcricam  embass)-  that  goes  to 


Interior  of  Sid  Bricho's  Falace. 


268  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

Fez  will  carry  with  it  a  whale  in  a  tank  to  be  let 
loose  in  the  Sultan's  fountains.  So  firmly  do  these 
men  believe  the  story  that  I  have  a  feeling  of  sin- 
cere sympathy  for  the  next  American  Minister  who 
may  be  sent  to  Fez,  should  he  not  go  to  the 
trouble  of  endeavouring  to  satisfy  the  expectations  of 
our  swarthy  fellow-citizens  in  this  regard.  He  will 
certainly  be  very  badly  served. 

After  luncheon  our  beaters  separated  into  two 
bands,  and  we  took  up  our  respective  positions  in  a 
long  line  on  the  top  of  the  mountain  ridge.  The 
beaters  made  a  tremendous  noise,  filling  the  air  with 
strange  cries  as  they  commenced  the  drive  towards 
us.  It  was  amusing  to  listen  to  them.  A  Moor 
always  talks  to  an  animal  as  he  would  to  a  human 
being.  He  firmly  believes  that  they  all  speak 
"  Moorish."  So  I  was  not  surprised  to  hear  Salem 
shouting  with  his  huge,  resounding  voice,  "  Now, 
come  out  and  show  yourself,  great  Abou  Snau 
(father  of  tusks).  As  no  boar  [)ul  in  an  appearance, 
the  beaters  tried  taunts.  "Oh,  it  is  not  Abou 
Snau,"  they  shouted,  "  it  is  a  skulking  Jew — a  silly 
hy.xna."  And  then  they  would  endeavour  to  induce 
him  with  soft  words  to  come  out  on  the  plain  and 
fight  "like  a  Christian."  (It  is  pleasing  to  notice 
that  cviry where  in  Morocco  where  I  have  been  the 
fighting  prowess  of  the  Ciiristian  is  fully  recognized.) 
Listening  to  these  cries,  I  noticed  fijr  the  first  time 
what  I  have  often  been  struck  with  since,  the  won- 
derful "  carry "  the  voices  of  these  mountaineers 
possess.  I  have  often  observed  them  carrying  on  a 
conversation  from  hill-tops  several  miles  apart.      They 


OUR  JOURNEY    TO    TETUAN.  269 

do  not  seem  to  strain  their  lungs,  or  in  any  way  to 
exert  themselves.  They  throw  back  their  heads, 
expand  their  chests  fully,  and,  simply  talking  at 
their  ease,  they  fully  understand  each  other  at  a  dis- 
tance of  considerably  over  a  mile. 

The  hunt  was  anything  but  a  success,  and  the  sun 
was  setting  when  the  beaters  surrounded  the  last 
thicket  where  the  boars  were  supposed  to  be  in 
hiding.  Though  several  of  the  huge  porkers  had 
been  disturbed  from  their  lairs,  they  had  all  escaped 
without  coming  within  range  of  our  guns.  At  last, 
however,  I  heard  a  rustle  very  close  to  my  stand, 
and  the  Moor  of  the  village,  who  had  been  placed 
there  to  coach  me,  urged  me  to  fire  into  the  under- 
bush  on  the  off  chance  of  bringing  down  the  animal. 
This  he  finally  succeeded  in  making  me  do.  When 
I  fired  he  clapped  me  on  the  back,  and  seemed  so 
elated  that  at  first,  by  some  strange  sense  of  wood- 
man's craft  that  I  did  not  possess,  I  thought  perhaps 
he  had  heard  the  boar  fall.  But  he  had  not.  His 
face,  however,  was  radiant  with  delight,  this  strange 
Moorish  American  companion  of  mine.  "  You 
missed,"  he  shouted  at  last,  no  longer  being  able  to 
suppress  his  merriment.  "  That  miss  will  cost  you 
four  dollars  forfeit  to  be  distributed  among  the 
villagers."  I  thought  my  Moorish  friend  a  very  deep 
and  disagreeable  fellow  indeed,  especially  with  the 
memory  of  an  amiable  French  beater  fresh  in  my 
recollection  who,  only  a  few  months  before,  when  I 
missed  a  point  blank  shot  at  a  rabbit,  near  Versailles, 
clapped  me  on  the  back  encouragingly,  and  perceiving 
the  mortification  that  was  mine,  said,  "  Mais,  Monsieur, 


270  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

vous    avez    trcs    bien    tire    tout    le    mcme.' — ('  But, 
Monsieur,  you  aimed  very  well  all  the  same.") 

But  money  is  money  after  all,  and  my  companion 
this  time  was  a  Moorish  American.  When  darkness 
set  in  the  American  Khalifa  left  us  to  ride  back  to 
Tangier,  and  the  villagers  dispersed  to  their  homes. 
We  camped  for  the  night  on  the  hillside,  and  very 
damp  and  cold  it  was.  Our  English  tent  was  not 
nearly  as  comfortable  as  the  Moorish  one  of  camel's 
hair  that  the  men  had  brought  as  a  kitchen.  Here 
we  crouched  as  long  as  we  could  stand  the  atmosphere, 
listening  to  Salem's  sparkling  stories  of  the  great 
feats  of  strength  he  had  accomplished  some  years 
before,  immediately  after  having  paid  a  pilgrimage  to 
the  tomb  of  Sidi  Boazzain  the  Sahel  Wood.  "  On  my 
way  to  Tangier,"  he  said,  while  the  other  muleteers 
gathered  around  and  listened  in  respectful  awe,  "  my 
mule  went  lame  in  all  four  feet.  It  was  late  at  night. 
I  was  afraid  to  tether  the  animal  in  the  country,  so, 
after  a  prayer  to  Sidi  Boazza,  I  lifted  him  on  my 
shoulders  and  carried  him  four  miles  into  Tangier." 
"  May  Sidi  Boazza  rest  in  peace,  and  his  blessing 
descend  upon  us  all !  "  shouted  the  pious  muleteers  in 
chorus.  Salem  went  on  to  remark  that  he  had  never 
experienced  any  ill  effects  from  his  feat  of  strength, 
except  a  rather  severe  he:idachc  the  day  following. 

The  country  seemed  quiet  and  peaceable  enough, 
but  on  the  second  day  of  our  roundabout  journey 
we  saw  a  village  in  smoke  and  flame,  and  about 
an  hour  later  we  met  one  of  the  Imperial  tax- 
gatherers  alone  and,  unaccompanied  by  any  followers, 
retreating  towards  Arziia.     We  had  the  good  fortune, 


2/2  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

however,  to  come  across  no  sterner  evidence  of  the 
fact  that  the  country  in  which  we  were  so  peaceably- 
travelling  was  then  the  theatre  of  one  of  those  little 
rebellions  which  are  constantly  going  on  in  Morocco. 
In  the  afternoon  of  our  third  day  out  we  came  in 
sight  of  Tetuan.  This  town  is  only  distant  some 
forty-five  miles  from  Tangier,  but  by  the  circuitous 
route  we  had  followed  it  must  be  at  least  seventy. 
Tetuan  is  beautifully  situated  at  the  foot  of  Beni 
Ilosmar,  one  of  the  highest  peaks  of  the  Northern  or 
Lesser  Atlas  range.  It  was  nearly  night  when  we 
rode  into  the  town  and  entered  the  Dicllah,  or  Jew 
quarter.  Here  we  found  that  the  house  of  the 
British  \'ice-Consul,  a  Moorish  Jew  named  Nahon, 
the  usual  stopping  place  of  visitors,  was  occupied  by 
two  English  officers,  who  had  come  across  from 
Gibraltar  for  a  few  days'  sport  with  the  woodcock 
and  the  snipe  that  abound  in  the  swamps  that  lie  be- 
tween the  town  and  the  port  of  San  Martino.  In  an 
evil  moment  we  bethought  us  of  the  American  consular 
agent,  also  a  Jew,  and  immediately  went  to  see  him 
in  the  hope  that  he  could  lodge  us  himself,  or  find  us 
a  suitable  resting-place.  It  was  raining  hard  and  pitch 
dark,  and  we  had  no  desire  to  camp  out  beyond  the 
city  walls  in  all  the  mud  and  filth  we  had  noticed 
there.  Unfortunately  the  consular  agent  had  not  a 
vacant  room  in  his  house,  and  knew  no  one  who  had. 
He  was,  however,  possessed  of  much  elegant  leisure, 
which  he  lavished  upon  us  in  a  most  generous  manner 
during  our  stay  in  the  town.  !•  inall)-,  however,  we 
found  a  vacant  cellar  without  an}-  windows  or  aper- 
tures for  ventilation,  and   in    this  cave,  with  the  walls 


OUR  JOURNEY   TO    TETUAN.  273 

dripping  with  dampness  and  green  with  slimy  lichen, 
we  were  compelled  to  stay  until  we  left  Tetiian. 
Our  men  and  animals  were  lodged  at  the  common 
fondak,  a  quaint,  ramshackle  Moorish  inn,  in  which 
everybody  slept  out  in  the  court-yard,  reclining  on 
prayer-rugs,  and  covered  up  in  the  folds  of  their 
jelabs.  Our  cellar  belonged  to  Jews,  and  as  it  was 
Friday,  their  Sabbath,  our  host  could  only  serve  us 
with  baked  meats,  which  he  brought  from  the  oven 
which  all  the  Jews  of  the  viellaJi  have  in  common  for 
this  purpose.  And  as  according  to  the  Mosaic  law 
they  could  neither  furnish  us  with  fire  nor  lights  on 
the  Sabbath,  we  went  to  bed  in  the  chill  darkness. 

On  the  following  morning  we  were  received  by  the 
Bashaw,  one  of  the  finest  specimens  of  the  predatory 
type  of  man  I  have  ever  seen.  He  had  a  hawk- 
like face,  cold  beady  eyes,  and  his  fingers  were  strong 
and  sinewy  prehensile  like  the  talons  of  an  eagle.  He 
welcomed  us  to  Tetuan,  and  asked  us  to  come  and 
take  tea  with  him  on  the  following  day.  During  our 
audience  by  some  means  our  consular  agent  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  inside  the  little  Koiibba  in  which  the 
Bashaw  had  received  us.  His  appearance  brought 
the  audience  to  a  rather  abrupt  conclusion.  He  was 
evidently  not  persona  grata  at  court.  When  we 
reached  our  humble  cellar  we  found  letters  from  the 
Bashaw  as  well  as  from  Katib,  another  Tetuan 
notable  to  whom  we  had  brought  letters,  cancelling 
the  invitations  they  had  extended  to  us.  The 
Bashaw  said  his  favourite  wife  was  ill  with  the 
small-pox.  Katib  simply  asked  us  not  to  come  sans 
phrases. 

T 


274  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

Everybody,  including  our  muleteers,  united  in  mak- 
ing our  diplomatic  representative  responsible  lor  our 
social  downfall.  Sid  Bricho,  a  distinguished  Tetuani, 
and  by  far  the  most  enlightened  and  civilized  of  the 
Moors  I  came  in  contact  with  in  my  travels,  un- 
like Katib,  who  closed  his  doors  upon  us  because 
of  the  religion  of  our  consular  agent,  welcomed 
us  warmly,  and  extended  to  us  the  greatest  hospi- 
talit}\  We  were  constantly  invited  to  his  house, 
and  he  seemed  to  take  the  greatest  interest  in  our 
descriptions  of  the  wonders  of  the  New  World. 
Bricho  had  often  been  sent  by  the  father  of  the 
reigning  Sultan  on  foreign  missions,  and,  unlike  every 
other  travelled  Moor  1  came  in  contact  with,  he 
seemed  to  have  profited  by  his  wider  experience  of 
men  and  manners,  which  may  account  for  the/act  that 
he  is  very  much  out  of  favour  at  the  Shereefian  Court. 

The  house  in  which  he  lived  was  truly  a  palace  of 
many  court-yards,  beautifully  tiled  under  foot  and 
overhead  with  the  mosaic  tiling  for  which  Tetuan  is 
famous  throughout  Morocco.  The  overhanging  por- 
ticoes of  the  haremlik  were  upheld  by  many  graceful 
pillars  of  marble.  It  was  a  pleasant  place  to  linger 
in  out  of  the  dirt,  and  away  from  the  noise  of  our 
miserable  lodgings.  He  saw  we  enjoyed  the  archi- 
tectural beauty,  the  romantic  surroundings  of  his 
domain,  and,  very  generously,  he  gave  us  the  run  of 
the  place.  It  was  pleasant,  indeed,  to  sit  in  this  far- 
away corner  of  the  world,  under  magnificent  mandra- 
gora  and  orange  trees,  listening  to  the  soothing  splash 
of  innumerable  fountains  and  dreaming  the  dreams  of 
the  lotus-eater. 


OUR  JOURNEY   TO    TETUAN.  275 

On  one  occasion  Sid  Bricho  extended  an  invitation 

from  the  ladies  of  his  harem  to  D y,  and  on  the 

following  day  she  went  and  took  tea  with  them.  The 
harem  was  inhabited  by  some  twenty  women,  or 
rather  girls,  as  their  ages  only  ranged  from  twelve  to 
twenty.  What  became  of  Bricho's  old  wives  seems 
to  have  been  a   Bluebeardian   mystery.     The  women 

were  reclining  upon  couches,  so  D y  writes,  robed 

in  their  loose  clinging  garments  of  silk  lace  and  em- 
broidered cloth.  They  were  waited  upon  by  four  or  five 
tattooed  negresses  from  the  Soudan,  who  wore  huge 
and  very  heavy  bronzen  or  copper  earrings.  The  wives 
wore  beautiful  embroidered  girdles  round  their  waists. 
Their  brown  and  very  shapely  ankles  were  encircled 
by  anklets  of  heavy  silver.  The  floor  of  the  harem 
was  covered  with  beautiful  Rabat  and  Casablanca 
rugs  of  the  rich  mellow  colours,  the  secret  of  which 
seems  lost  to  the  Moorish  carpet-makers  of  to-day. 
The  walls  were  hung  with  Jiayties,  embroidered  in 
gold,  some  of  them  of  old  Spanish  damask  silk, 
others  of  Italian  velvet.  D y  was  imme- 
diately taken  to  one  end  of  the  room,  where, 
suspended  from  the  ceiling  by  long  silken  cords,  hung 
a  small  basket  cradle  in  which  was  sleeping  a  baby 
about  six  or  eight  months  old.  It  was  the  child  of 
Sid  Bricho's  favourite  wife.  The  eyes  of  the  poor 
little  wretch  looked  like  big  black  diamonds,  so  black 
had  the  eyelids  been  painted  with  koJil.  Its  finger 
and  toe  nails  were  stained  with  henna.  Ail  these  dis- 
figurements   were   pointed   out  to   D y,  and  she 

was  asked  whether  she  did  not  think  they  heightened 

the  infant's  beauty.     D y  spent  nearly  an  hour 

T   2 


276  MOROCCO  AS   IT  /S. 

in  the  harem  talking  and  chatting  with  the  women, 
though  neither  understood  a  word  of  the  language 
that  the  other  spoke.  When  she  rose  to  go  they  all 
shook  hands  and  then  kissed  the  hand  which  she  had 
touched  as  an  indication  of  the  esteem  and  friendship 
in  which  she  was  held  by  them.  The  women  were 
very  much  amused  with  her  costume,  which  was  a 
riding  habit,  and  insisted  upon  thoroughly  examining 
it  in  all  its  details.  They  seemed  to  be  very  fond  of 
jewellery,  and  were  delighted  with  the  few  rings  which 
she  wore.  In  return  for  the  patience  she  showed  in 
being  so  thoroughly  scrutinized  by  her  new  friends, 
the  women  of  the  harem  brought  out  the  contents  of 
their  wardrobes,  which  consisted  of  many-coloured 
silk  and  gold  embroidered  caftans  of  lace  and 
beautiful  girdles,  woven  from  the  richest  Fez  silk,  and 
soft  snowy  haiks,  which  the)'  showed  her.  Jhit  the 
greatest    curiosity    they    reserved   for   the    last.      As 

D y  was  turning  to  go,  the  women  led  her  into  a 

small  room  off  the  large  apartment  in  which  some- 
thing very  carefully  shrouded  in  old  turban  cloths 
was  lying  on  the  tiled  tabic.  The  women  placed 
several  of  the  black  slaves  as  spies  at  all  the  entrances 
to  the  harem,  and  then  carefully  and  cautiously  un- 
robed the  mysterious  package.  It  proved  to  be  a 
German  looking-glass  of  a  very  cheap  and  unflatter- 
ing variety.      The    women    were    very    iriuch   tlisap- 

pointed    when    D y   evinced    no    surprise  at  the 

sight  of  the  much-treasured  article,  and  they  almost 
mobbed  her  in  their  attempts  to  get  possession  of  it 
when  she  showed  them  a  pocket  glass  she  carried 
with  her.     The  large  looking-glass  was  then  carefully 


Tetuan  Woman. 


278  MOROCCO  AS   IT  IS. 

covered  up  with  tlie  turban  cloths  and  hidden  away 
ascarefully  as  before,  for  Bricho,  despite  his  humanity, 
is  an  orthodox  Moor,  and  would  not  willingly  permit 
such  an  iniquity  to  profane  his  house. 

From  early  in  the  morning  until  late  at  night,  our 
new  friend  and  countryman  was  ever  at  my  elbow  or 
on  our  heels.  From  dewy  dawn  until  the  damp  even- 
ing, when  wc  retired  to  our  cellar,  he  loudly  bemoaned 
our  fate.  Hardly  an  hour  passed  but  what  he 
begged  us  to  forgive  him.  Our  want  of  social  success 
was  all  his  fault,  he  whined.  We  had  been  dropped 
by  the  smart  set  of  Tetuan  because  of  our  courtesy 
to  him.  Every  moment  he  would  refer  to  the  sudden 
eclipse  of  our  star,  that  at  one  moment  shone  with 
such  social  promise.  He  would  go  through  the 
pantomime  of  tearing  his  liair  and  beating  his  breast, 
and  finally  one  morning,  as  though  convinced  that 
the  self-inflicted  punishment  w^as  totally  inadequate 
to  his  offence,  he  asked  me  to  kick  him.  On  the 
second  time  of  asking,  I  complied  with  the  request. 
There  was  nothing  of  the  pantomime  in  my  kick, 
so  our  compatriot  (by  the  not  altogether  thorough 
method  of  naturalization)  dropped  the  subject. 

There  was  no  doubt  about  it.  The  smart  set  of 
Tetuan  left  us  severely  alone.  Indeed,  some  of  our 
former  would-be  hosts  would  even  ignore  our  pre- 
sence when  we  met  in  the  market-place,  and  the 
invitations  to  take  tea  in  their  gardens,  which  were 
so  unanimously  and  mysteriously  cancelled,  were 
never  renewed.  '1  hese  slights  wc  might  have  sur- 
vived, but  unfortunately,  in  his  well-meant  endeavours 
to  compensate  us  for  the  absence  of  the  great  ones 


OUR   JOURNEY    TO    TETUAN.  2/9 

of  Tetuan,  the  consular  agent  now  never  left  us  at 
all.  D y  suggested  that  the  never-napping  sur- 
veillance he  kept  over  us  was  perhaps  inspired  by 
the  fear  that  if  we  were  left  alone,  but  for  a  moment, 
to  contemplate  the  complete  collapse  of  our  social 
aspirations  we  might  seek  to  put  an  end  to  our 
blighted  lives. 

Street-life  in  Tetuan  is  very  picturesque  and  quite 
distinct  from  the  scenes  one  witnesses  in  other 
Moorish  towns.  The  streets  themselves  are  broader 
and  are  kept  much  cleaner.  The  houses  are  larger, 
and  to  my  mind  of  a  much  nobler  and  purer  Arabic 
architecture  than  even  the  best  specimens  I  have 
seen  in  Fez.  Tetuan  was  not,  I  believe,  founded  by 
the  refugees  from  Granada,  after  the  capture  of  this 
their  stronghold  in  1492,  as  is  generally  supposed. 
I  believe  archaeological  proof  has  quite'recently  been 
brought  to  light  that  would  go  far  to  show  that 
Tetuan  was  a  flourishing  port  even  in  the  days  of 
the  Phoenicians.  But  the  refugees  from  Granada 
certainly  found  Tetuan  a  dirty  mud  village,  and  the 
evidences  of  a  decided  attempt  on  their  part  to  re- 
vive the  glories  of  their  birthplace  are  everywhere, 
even  to  this  day,  quite  apparent.  So  I  was  not 
surprised  to  find  the  Tetuani  more  civilized  than 
any  of  the  Moors  I  had  previously  fallen  in  with. 

They  certainly  know  the  art  of  living.  They 
possess  magnificent,  well-ventilated  houses,  and  are 
very  highly  educated  and  cultured  according  to  their 
ideas  of  what  education  and  culture  are.  They  still 
cling  in  the  most  tenacious  manner  to  the  keys  of 
their  Granada  palaces,  and  the  title-deeds  of  their 


280  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

Spanish  estates  and  "  chateaux,"  which  their  ancestors 
possessed  in  the  days  of  the  CaHphate  of  Cordova. 
On  the  anniversary  of  the  day  of  the  fall  of  Granada, 
so  Sid  Bricho  told  mc,  the  elite  of  the  Tctuani.  who 
were  so  fortunate  as  to  possess  these  papers,  carried 
them  with  them  into  the  mosque,  and  spent  most  of 
the  day  in  the  sanctuary  poring  over  the  dust)'  pages, 
and  praying  that  the  day  of  retribution  and  restitu- 
tion may  come  soon,  as  it  will  come,  they  are  confident. 
The  business  quarters  of  the  town  are  divided  into 
guilds  very  much  after  the  fashion  of  mediaeval 
London.  Here  it  was  amusing  to  watch  the  mer- 
chants selling  their  wares  or  selling  them  not,  just  as 
fate  decreed,  because  they  themselves  made  no  effort 
to  increase  their  sales  by  advertising  their  merits  or 
in  other  wa)'s.  They  simply  sat  cross-legged  in  an 
attitude  of  fatalistic  indifference  on  their  haunches, 
waiting  the  coming  of  a  customer.  Every  now  and 
then,  wild-looking  Riff  women  would  wander  into 
the  shopping  quarters,  ami  h\-  their  presence  lend  a 
certain  savage  interest  to  the  scene.  They  had  come 
from  their  Highland  homes  to  make  the  annual 
jjurchases.  Their  uncovered  faces  were  tattooed  with 
all  manner  of  strange  devices,  on  the  cheeks,  about 
the  neck  and  forehead,  and  on  their  bosoms,  which 
were  bared  to  the  gaze  of  the  spectator.  As  they 
wandered  through  the  narrow  streets  their  unonjth 
silver  jewellery  jangled  like  the  bells  of  a  tram- 
way. While  the}'  are  making  their  purchases  their 
lords  and  masters  camp  outside  of  the  city  gate  at 
a  respectful  distance  ;  for  the  Riff  is  generally 
"  wanted  "  in  Tetuan,  and  it  would    be  a   bold  thing 


OUR  JOURXEY    TO    TETi'AX.  281 

indeed  to  come  into  the  town  right  under  the  eyes 
of  the  Bashaw,  to  whom  they  consistently  refuse  to 
pay  taxes. 

The  Riffs  have  a  curious  code  of  ethics.  Among 
them  a  man's  duty  is  to  kill,  to  steal,  to  murder, 
and  to  harry  as  much  as  he  can,  and  the  only 
disgrace  that  may  come  upon  him  is  to  die  in 
his  bed  with  his  boots  on.  And  from  what  I  heard 
of  their  exploits,  I  believe  very  few  Riffs  bring  this 
disgrace  on  their  families. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

OUR  JOURNEY   TO   TK\\iA^—{Contin7icd.) 

The  consular  a<:;ent  caufjlit  nappinj^ — A  Moorish  lawyer  in  his 
lair — "  Done  "  by  a  naked  follower  of  Sid  Aissa — ''  Copper 
from  the  land  where  gold  lies  mountains  high " — The 
Snake-charmer's  theology — Hassan,  the  son  of  the  Sultan, 
on  his  return  from  the  weekly  bath — The  marriage  of  the 
dusky  Rahniana  to  Sid  Haniid  tlie  I'asliaw  secretary — The 
invisible  bride — Mothers  and  mothers-in-law  as  niatiinio- 
nial  agents — The  wedding  march  to  the  shrines  of  saints — 
A  daughter  of  America  visits  the  bride — Her  man-of-war's 
man  costume  objected  to — Rumours  of  rebellion  and  the 
reality — The  Oued-Ras  tribesmen  "out  for  blood"— Nar- 
row escape  of  my  rye  whiskej — The  killing  of  Sheik  Bcn- 
zouini — The  deposition  of  the  Bashaw — End  of  the  re- 
bellion— "  Plus  ca  change  plus  c  est  le  mcme  chose" — The 
ways  of  governors — H'mam — A  Garibaldian  without  a 
red  shirt — His  disgraceful  capture — Smuggling  ways  in  the 
Herculean  Straits — The  provenance  of  the  repeating  rillcs 
—  H'mam's  successful  fight. 

Onk  morninf(  \vc  cauL^ht  the  consular  afjcnt  nappinq-, 
and  so  wandered  out  seeking  adventures  unmodified 
by  his  disiUusioning  interjections  of,  "  What  would 
they  say  to  this  in  Ciialhani  Street?  How  they 
would  lauj,di  in  the  Uower)' !  "  It  was  a  dclij^htful 
opportunity  to  ^ci  lost,  which  we  immediately  pro- 
ceeded to  do,  the  business  cjuarter,  the  bazaars,  being 


OUR  JOL'RXF.Y    TO    TEIUAN. 


2S3 


a  perfect  labyrinth.  Our  friend,  the  consul,  knew  its 
windings  well,  but  we  preferred  to  brave  ih.Q  Mviotaur, 
rather  than  to  listen  to  his  explanations,  and  submit 
further  to  his  guidance.  We  first  stumbled  upon  the 
bazaar  of  the  Adools,  the  Chancery  Lane  of  Tetuan. 
It  contained  about  one  hundred  cuddy-holes  in  which 
were  seated,  cross-legged,  the  learned  men  of  law  of 


A  Moorish  Lawyer. 


the  city.  They  were  all  very  aged  and  venerable  in 
appearance,  in  fact  I  never  saw  a  young  adool  in 
Morocco.  While  with  us  the  young  adool  seems  to 
visibly  starve,  I  should  say  that  in  Morocco  he 
hibernates  unseen  for  a  period  of  years  until  his  beard 
is  snowy  white,  and  he  can,  without  disrespect  to  his 
colleagues,  take  up  his  position  in  the  dog-houses  from 


2^4  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS, 

which  the  law  of  tlie  land  is  handed  down  to  the  laity. 
One  adool  we  noted  as  a  particularly  interesting  per- 
sonage. Clients  thronged  around  him.  I  should  say 
he  was  eighty  )ears  of  age.  His  head  was  snowy 
white,  his  eyebrows  were  like  tufts  of  ermine  ;  he  wore 
a  pair  of  gold-rimmed  spectacles,  and  all  his  clothes 
were  of  white  silk.  His  little  office  was  crammed  to 
overflowing  with  ponderous  manuscripts  in  which 
were  gathered  the  wise  saws  of  the  Moorish  law-givers. 
I  do  not  conclude  the  citation  by  saying  modern 
instances,  for  there  are  no  modern  instances  of  Moor- 
ish law  ;  it  all  goes  back  to  the  days  of  the  Prophet 
and  of  the  Sulhama.  Four  clients  stood  patiently 
awaiting  the  great  man's  pleasure,  while  he,  as  though 
indifferent  to  practice  and  "refreshing  fees,"  read  his 
precious  commentaries.  Finally,  with  a  sigh,  the  old 
man  dropped  the  all-enthralling  book,  and  looked 
down  contemptuously  at  the  first  client  on  line.  She 
was  a  peasant  woman  from  the  country-side,  wearing 
the  umbrageous  straw  hat  common  to  the  Kabyles  of 
the  Tetuan  country.  The  diameter  of  the  brim  was 
at  least  two  feet.  It  was  covered  with  parti-coloured 
ribbons  and  strings,  and  altogether  looked  like  a 
patch-work  crazy  (juilt.  Her  face  was  complctcl}' 
covered  with  a  jasmak,  and  so  carefully  swathed 
from  view  was  it  that  the  slits  for  the  eyes  were  quite 
unnoticcable,  and  her  voice  through  the  many  muffling 
kerchiefs  sounded  as  though  she  was  speaking  through 
a  respirator. 

It  was  a  long  and  graphic  story  that  she  told,  with 
no  end  of  pantomime  and  gesticulation,  that  some- 
body   had    stolen    her  cow,    was     all    I  could   make 


OUR  JOURNEY    TO    TETUAN. 


285 


out  of  it.  When  she  was  through  it  the  adool 
smiled,  and  he  talked  for  a  few  minutes.  I  under- 
stood him  better.  His  story  was  something  about 
''money  in  advance"  payments.  Then  everybody 
joined  in  the  legal  conference,  the  passing  muleteers, 
the  market  women,  the  street  arabs,  and  there  was  a 
hubbub  that  aroused  the  quarter  out  of  its  noon-tide 


Tetuan  Women  in  Market-place. 

nap.  Finally,  the  peasant  woman  pulled  some  copper 
coins  out  of  one  of  her  capacious  pockets,  and  began 
to  spread  out  the  meskals  at  the  feet  of  the  learned 
man.  He  smiled  pityingly  upon  her  and  with  un- 
disguised contempt  upon  her  copper  coin.  His 
words  were  worth  their  weight  in  silver,  he  said. 
His    were     not    the    idle     words    of     conversation, 


286  MOROCCO  AS  IT  IS. 

to  be  paid  for  in  copper.  Finally  the  woman  pulled 
a  Spanish  dollar  from  out  of  another  secret  re- 
ceptacle, and  placed  it  at  his  feet.  He  picked  it  up, 
held  it  to  his  eye  and  scanned  it  carefully  ;  bit  it 
and  spat  on  it,  and  then,  it  having  apparently  stood 
all  these  tests  to  his  satisfaction,  he  put  it  away  in  his 
purse.  Then  the  woman  told  her  tale  again.  This 
time  the  adool  listened  and  made  careful  notes. 
When  she  was  through,  he  took  down  his  dusty 
volumes  and  began  to  look  the  case  up  to  compare 
authorities.  He  certainly  did  not  scamp  the  matter. 
Finally,  after  this  exhaustive  preparation  and  com- 
parison of  authorities,  he  gave  his  client  an  opinion. 
Evidently  it  was  a  very  unfavourable  one.  She  had 
no  grounds  for  suit.  Instead  of  falling  down  in  adora- 
tion before  this  vara  avis  of  an  adool,  the  woman 
got  very  angr)',  and  at  one  time  it  looked  as  though 
she  were  going  to  wreck  his  shop.  She  shrieked  and 
cursed,  and  called  upon  all  the  saints  of  Lslamism  to 
frown  down  upon  this  wicked  lawyer.  Then  she  pro- 
posed a  compromise.  If  he  would  give  her  back  half 
the  fee,  she  would  say  nothing  further  about  the 
matter.  Everybody  who  passed  joined  in  the  contro- 
versy. Muleteers  got  down  off  their  animals  to  slide 
in  a  word,  and  finally  the  pour  adool  gave  back  two 
pesetas  in  copper,  and  the  woman  went  her  way. 

The  sun  was  now  declining,  and  we  dared  to  go 
out  in  the  great  S6k  or  market-place,  a  huge  field  of 
some  fifteen  acres,  where  the  country  people  bring 
their  produce,  and  where  everytiiing  is  sold  from  a 
camel  to  a  cedar-wood  cup.  Here  we  stumbled  upon 
a    snake-charmer    and    a    .story-teller — evidently    a 


OUR  JOURNEY   TO    TETUAN.  287 

popular  favourite.  His  musical  assistants  began  a 
tremendous  tomtoming  on  cymbals,  with  interludes 
played  upon  the  Moorish  bagpipe  and  the  gimreh. 
About  500  people  crowded  around  the  spot  on  which 
the  almost  naked  follower  of  Sid  Aissa  announced 
that  he  was  going  to  make  miracles  and  work  wonders. 
We  joined  the  throng.  He  was  a  perfect  black  with 
long  Medusa-like  curls  hanging  in  kinks  over  his 
broad  shoulders.  He  wore  a  breech-cloth  and  a  pair 
of  sandals.  His  body  was  covered  with  self-inflicted 
scars  of  which  the  Sussi  snake-charmers  are  quite 
as  proud  as  the  Heidelberg  corps  student  is  of  his 
schinisse.  His  preparations  were  careful  and  pro- 
longed, and,  before  the  performance  began,  the  money- 
bag went  round  a  dozen  times.  Finally  he  got  a  bundle 
of  hay,  and  sprinkled  it  over  carefully  with  water. 

"  That  I  shall  set  on  fire,"  he  said,  "  by  the  grace 
of  my  patron  saint,  the  great  Sid  Aissa  of  Mekinez." 
Then  he  emptied  a  bag  on  the  ground,  and  four  or 
five  of  the  deadly  leffah  snakes  began  to  crawl  and 
squirm  around  the  place  to  the  no  little  alarm  of  the 
spectators.  Again  the  bag-pipe  player  desisted,  and 
passed  around  the  hat.  At  this  juncture  the  follower 
of  the  snake-charming  saint  caught  sight  of  me,  and, 
holding  up  a  paltry  copper  coin  in  his  hand  which  he 
was  pleased  to  ascribe  to  my  generosity,  he  said,  "  O 
son  of  America,  a  pitiful  piece  of  copper  for  me,  the 
child  of  the  Prophet,  the  beloved  one  of  the  great 
Aissa  ;  a  piece  of  copper  from  the  land  where  the 
gold  lies  mountains  high  ! "  A  huge  guffaw  greeted 
this  sally,  and  then  the  miracle-maker  took  up  the 
cudgels  against  the  Jews. 


288  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

Thinking  probably  that  I  was  offended  by  his 
derisive  remarks,  he  was  pleased  to  say  in  a  loud 
voice  a  moment  later,  "  Yes,  the  son  of  America  is 
generous.  See,  Moors,  and  Jewish  dogs,  he  has 
given  me  a  peseta."  Then  he  began  to  ingratiate 
himself  with  the  Jews,  four  of  whom  in  their  black 
skull-caps,  theiribabooshas,  and  long  black  gowns, 
had  come  to  see  the  sport.  I  must  say,  that  though 
a  very  poor  snake-charmer,  he  knew  his  audience 
well.  While  it  must  seem  almost  incredible  to  any 
one  who  knows  the  thrifty  habits  of  the  Barbary 
Jew,  yet  it  is  a  fact  that  in  a  few  minutes  he  had 
wheedled  them  out  of  sixpence  apiece.  Then  he 
threw  back  his  snake-like  hair,  and  frothed  at  the 
mouth  as  he  talked  to  the  Moors.  He  called  them 
every  opprobrious  epithet  that  I  have  ever  heard  in 
Morocco,  and  its  vocabulary  in  that  direction  is  a 
very  large  one.  He  cursed  them  for  allowing  a 
Christian  dog,  and  a  pig  of  a  Jew,  to  outdo  them  in 
liberality,  and  soon  the  copper  floss  came  into  the  hat 
which  was  always  going  round  with  a  steady  rotary 
motion.  He  gathered  up  his  silver  and  his  copper, 
and  as  he  fell  its  weight  he  smiled  placidly,  and  life 
seemed  for  him  to  take  on  a  more  ro.sy  hue. 

He  now  commenced  to  expound  a  comprehensive 
philosophy  and  a  catholic  theology  that  embraced  us 
all.  "  I  call  on  the  great  saint,  Sid  Aissa,  and  my 
own  sweet  i)atron,  Mulai  Absalom,  to  bear  mc 
witness,"  he  cried,  striking  his  breast  with  his  hand, 
"  that  no  true  follower  of  the  Prophet  has  ever  reviled 
a  Christian  or  a  Jew.  We  are  all  God's  children, 
and   those  wc  worship  arc  all   the  children  of  Him 


The  Susi  Snake-charmer. 


u 


290  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

who  bids  the  sun  move  and  the  waters  rise  and  fall.  . 
Mahommed  is  our  Prophet  and  God's  messenger,  but 
Moses  is  the  mind  of  God,  the  Lord  Jesus  the  very 
breath  of  His  nostrils,  and  we  are  all  God's  children." 
A  murmur  of  applause  greeted  this  peroration,  and 
then  the  Saint,  having  reconciled  the  religious  differ- 
ences of  his  audience,  settled  down  to  snake-charming. 
He  took  the  leffahs  in  his  arms,  and  in   a   moment 
they  were  squirming  all  over  him,  tying  themselves 
up  into  coils,  burrowing   in   his   hair,  and  then   dis- 
appearing   entirely    from    view    in    his    breech-cloth. 
Finally  he  took  the  biggest  and  the  most  venomous- 
looking,  wrapped   him    in  coils  about  his  arm,   and 
holding  its  head  in  his  hand  about  an  inch  from  his 
mouth,    said,  "  Now,   true    believers.    Christians  and 
Jews,  shall  I  bite  his  head  off.'"'     Emphatic  cries  of 
"  Yes  "  went  up  from  the  delighted  audience.     The 
Fakir  looked    at    the  snake  steadily  for  a  moment, 
and    then    dropped    him    on    the   ground.     Without 
another  word  to  us  he  bundled  all  his  snakes  in  his 
bag,  his  earthenware  vase  of  water,  and  his  dampened 
hay,  and  slipped  out  of  the  circle  of  spectators.     An 
angry  cry  went  up,  he  had  "  done  "  us  out  of  about 
ten  pesetas,   and    evidently   we   were  not   going  to 
have  a  performance.     The  Jews  were  frantic  and  the 
Moors  more  philosophic  but  still  ill-pleased.     "  It  is 
prayer-time,"    said    the   sanctimonious    fraud,    and, 
witiiout  another  word  of  explanation  he  strolled  off 
towards  the  Mosque.     I  have  seen  many  better  snake- 
charmers,  but  never  one  who  delighted  me  so  much 
as  the  Susi  Fakir  I  met  in  Tetuan. 

The  crowd  had   hardly  dispersed  when  a  score  of 


OUR   JOURNEY    TO    TETUAX.  2gi 

mounted  cavalry  came  dashing  up  the  road  from  the 
sea-shore,  knocking  down  the  impromptu  stalls  of 
the  peasant  women,  and  smiting  the  bystanders 
with  the  flats  of  their  swords,  giving  a  decided  pre- 
ference in  striking  to  the  dark-robed  Jews.  "  Clear 
the  way,"  they  shouted,  "for  our  lord  Hassan,  the 
son  of  the  great  Seedna,  is  passing  this  way. 

Hassan  is  a  son  of  the  Sultan,  about  seventeen 
years  of  age,  who  is  being  educated  by  the  Bashaw 
of  Tetuan,  and  the  casbah  in  which  he  lives  fronts  on 
the  market-place.  The  soldiers  cleared  the  space, 
and  formed  in  line  in  front  of  the  palace.  Then 
there  was  another  sound  as  of  thunder,  and  fifty  or 
sixty  splendidly  mounted  emhazni  came  dashing  up 
the  road,  making  powder  play  as  they  came,  and 
shouting,  "  May  God  prolong  the  days  of  our  Lord 
Hassan  !  May  God  destroy  the  power  and  paralyze 
the  right  arm  of  his  enemies  !  "  They  dashed  about 
the  market-place,  presenting  a  fine  spectacle,  but  one 
that  was  rather  dangerous  to  the  spectators.  To 
escape  the  horses'  heels  we  had  to  retire  into  a  cafe 
where  we  discovered  the  fraudulent  snake-charmer 
fast  asleep  on  his  prayer  mat.  In  a  few  moments 
another  cavalcade  came  along,  going  at  a  very  sober 
gait.  It  was  headed  by  a  young  lad  dressed  in 
white,  and  muffled  with  the  voluminous  folds  of  this 
haik  Jelab,  and  so  veiled  that  you  could  not  distin- 
guish his  features.  It  was  Hassan,  the  son  of  the 
Sultan.  On  his  left  rode  the  old  Bashaw.  Imme- 
diately behind  him  rode  a  learned  man  wearing  a 
green  caftan  with  a  little  Koran,  studded  with  pearls, 
hanging  around  his  neck.     This  was  the  Taleb,  or 

U    2 


293  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

teacher  of  the  Sultan's  son.  Then  came  another 
escort  of  twenty  mounted  men  under  the  eyes  of 
three  chiefs  and  of  their  CaHph's  son.  The  soldiers 
sat  in  their  saddles  like  statues.  Not  a  sound  was 
heard.  I  could  not  even  distinguish  the  twitching 
of  a  muscle  as  the  young  Seigneur  rode  slowly  along 
the  line.  As  he  reached  the  casbah  gate  he  reined 
in  his  horse  a  moment,  and  whispered  something  to 
the  taleeb,  who  rode  back  some  twenty  feet,  and 
spoke  to  a  bare-footed  Soudan  negro,  who  had 
followed  the  cortege  on  foot.  He  was,  it  seems,  the 
Bashaw's  herald.  The  next  moment  he  announced 
in  a  stentorian  voice,  "  My  children,  our  Lord  Hassan 
is  well  pleased  with  )ou.  He  thanks  you  for  your 
escort  to-day."  Again  the  wild  cries  went  up,  "  May 
God  prolong  the  days  of  our  young  lord  !  May  the 
Prophet  paralyze  the  right  arm  of  his  enemies!" 
The  young  Prince  now  disappeared  under  the  wing 
of  the  Bashaw  and  his  tutor,  and  the  escort,  after 
more  powder  play,  dispersed.  Young  Lord  Hassan 
had  been  down  to  the  sea-shore  for  a  bath,  and  the 
whole  escort  and  the  Bashaw  had  sat  on  the  shore 
in  the  blazing  sun  watching  their  young  I'rince  tlis- 
porting  himself  in  the  waves,  and  i)ra)'ing  for  his 
safet)'. 

On  the  evening  jMcceding  our  departure  from 
Tetuan  the  Bashaw's  chief  secretary,  Sid  Hamid, 
married  the  beautiful  Kahmana,  the  belle  and  heiress 
of  Tetuan.  We  were  delighted  to  participate  in  the 
smartest  wedding  of  the  year,  even  though  merely 
in  the  capacity  of  uninvited  spectators.  There  was 
no   sign    of  the  coming   festivities    until    about    nine 


OUR  JOURNEY    TO    TETUAN.  293 

o'clock  in  the  evening,  when  we  noticed  unusual  life 
and  stir  in   the  streets.     Salem    brought   around   a 

mule  for  D y,  and  we  proceeded  up  the  Casbah 

Hill  towards  the  residence  of  the  bride.  It  was  a 
beautiful  moonlight  night,  and  the  elements  and  the 
surroundings  conspired  to  make  the  marriage  cere- 
mony a  very  picturesque  one.  On  entering  the 
street  in  which  the  beautiful  Rahmana  lived,  we 
found  it  impossible  to  approach  the  house  of  joy, 
owing  to  the  throngs  of  well-wishers  and  friends 
who  already  crowded  it.  We  lurked  modestly  in 
the  shadow  of  the  wall,  and  I  must  say  none  of  the 
Moors  present  were  hospitable  enough  to  bid  us 
move  up  higher.  In  fact,  quite  a  number  of  them 
were  unkind  enough  to  suggest  that  we  had  better 
go  home.  However,  we  succeeded  in  getting  a  very 
good  idea  of  a  Moorish  wedding  in  high  life,  without 
making  ourselves  particularly  objectionable,  and 
without  getting  into  any  trouble.  In  a  few  minutes 
an  aged  Soudan  woman,  black  as  the  ace  of  spades, 
leading  a  white  mule,  came  up  the  street  towards 
Rahmana's  home.  Everybody  laughed  and  joked 
with  her,  and  made  much  of  her.  I  found  out  after- 
wards that  the  negress  was  an  absolutely  indis- 
pensable adjunct  to  smart  weddings  in  Tetuan.  She 
walked  by  the  side  of  the  mule,  balancing  on  his 
back  a  tall  box  very  much  like  a  pigeon  house,  not 
flat  at  the  top,  however,  but  running  up  into  a  point. 
In  each  of  the  four  sides  of  the  box  is  a  small 
window,  hardly  large  enough  for  a  sparrow  to  hop 
through.  On  reaching  the  gate  in  front  of  the 
bride's  house  the  negress  placed  this  box  upon  her 


i   111.      i.ll'lc     III     lllC      Wl'iuil-      l)').\. 


OUR  JOURNEY    TO    TETUAN.  295 

back  and   went  in,   leaving  the  mule  and    the   ex- 
pectant  throng   outside.       In    a    few    moments   she 
returned  staggering  under  the  weight  of  the  box  in 
'    which  the   poor  bride    had    been  imprisoned.     The 
box   was   replaced    on    the    mule's   back,    and   then 
young  girls  of  her  acquaintance  streamed  out  of  the 
house,   and,    instead    of  attiring   the    bride    in    her 
wedding  garments,  as  one  would  expect,  they  hung 
the  beautiful   Spanish  brocades,  sashes  of  Fez   silk 
and  woven  haiks  upon  the  outside  of  the  box.     Then 
her  sister  brought  out  of  the  house  her  jewellery, 
bangles,  and  anklets,  and  a  string  of  pearls,  the  gems 
most  highly  prized  by  Moorish  women. 

They  were  hung  on  the  corners  of  the  wedding 
box,  and  the  procession  formed,  while  an  orchestra 
composed  of  some  ten  or  a  dozen  musicians  per- 
formed on  the  aronda,  the  guitar,  the  rabbez,  the 
gimreh  and  the  lute.  The  friends  and  family  of  the 
bride  and  the  bridegroom  fell  in  line  in  the  order  of 
their  seniority,  or  in  view  of  the  closeness  of  their 
relationship  to  one  or  the  other  of  the  contracting 
parties,  and,  in  about  ten  minutes  after  the  bride  had 
been  placed  in  her  uncomfortable  position  in  the 
suffocating  box,  a  wedding  march  was  struck  up, 
and  the  procession  moved  away  from  the  bride's 
house  in  which  all  lights  were  immediately  ex- 
tinguished as  an  indication  that  the  joy  and  the 
light  had  departed  from  her  father's  mansion  with 
her  out-going.  The  procession  was  headed  by  the 
Ik  Fiah,  a  priest  from  the  Casbah  Mosque. 

The  cortege  started  down  the  hill,  and   for  three 
hours   at  least  we  marched  around  Tetuan,  visiting 


296  MOROCCO  AS   IT  IS. 

every  shrine  and  every  saint  whose  bones  lie  buried, 
or  who  is  held  in  honour  within  the  walls  of  the  city. 
Certainly  500  of  the  wedding  guests  carried  lamps 
that  shone  weirdly,  lamps  of  highly  polished  tin  that 
glistened  in  the  moonlight  like  silver,  and  brass 
lamps  that  gleamed  and  glinted  like  Aladdin's  won- 
derful investments.  The  wedding  march  that  the 
musicians  played  Avas  not  by  any  means  as  in- 
harmonious or  as  unpleasant  to  the  ear  as  I  had 
expected  would  be  the  case  from  my  previous  ex- 
perience of  Moorish  music. 

It  was  weird  and  uncouth  certainly,  but  not  without 
a  certain  appropriateness  to  the  occasion.  As  we 
passed  along  the  streets  of  the  sleeping  cit}',  the 
doors  were  thrown  open,  and  the  men  rushed  out 
with  shouts,  and  boisterous  congratulations  were 
heard  on  every  side.  From  the  housetops  the 
women  of  the  harems  looked  down,  crying  out  their 
curious  yell  with  which  a  wedding  part)-  is  always 
met — "  yo,  yo,  yo,  yo,  ye,  ye,  ye,  ye  " — very  much  like 
tlie  song  of  the  Sioux  in  concluding  the  ghost  dance. 
At  every  shrine  the  music  would  be  hushed,  and  the  Ik 
Fiah,  taking  a  striking  position  at  the  head  of  the 
procession,  with  his  face  turned  towards  heaven,  would 
implore  a  blessing  on  the  briilc.  "  May  this  man  and 
this  woman  find  favour  in  th)'  sight,  O  Lord  of  the  day 
f)f  judgment!  May  the  .smile  of  Allah  bring  jo)- to 
their  bed  !  Ma>'  this  woman  be  fruitful  !  "  and  similar 
prayers  suitable  to  the  occasion.  Immediately  behind 
the  bride  in  the  box  came  the  ncgress  who  carried  in 
her  hands  two  candles  that  were  nc.irl)-  burned  out 
before    the    house   (^f  the  bridegroom,  our  objective 


OUR  JOURyEY    TO    TETUAN.  29/ 

point,  was  reached.  The  gateway  here  was  garlanded 
with  flowers,  and  there  was  a  blaze  of  light  from 
every  window.  The  negress  lifts  the  box  off  the 
mule's  back,  and,  amid  the  enthusiastic  shouts  of  the 
spectators,  the  bride  is  carried  and  enters  for  the 
first  time  the  house  where  she  is  to  be  mistress — 
until  supplanted.  The  negress,  the  all-important 
factotum  ot  the  ceremony,  carries  her  upstairs  into 
the  bridal  chamber,  and  places  her  on  a  divan  with- 
out allowing  her  feet  to  touch  the  ground.  In  fact, 
for  three  days  preceding  the  ceremony  the  bride  may 
not  touch  the  ground  with  her  feet  ;  she  must  be 
carried  always.  The  box  in  which  she  has  been 
brought  to  her  lord  is  left  also  in  the  bridal  chamber 
decked  out  with  the  wedding  garments.  The  negress 
places  the  candles  in  such  a  position  as  to  throw  as 
becoming  a  light  as  possible  on  her  protegee,  and 
after  hurriedly  touching  up  with  the  rouge  box, 
kohl  dust  and  henna  any  possible  damage  received 
by  her  charge  during  the  trip,  she  retires  and 
locks  the  door  of  the  bridal  chamber.  She  goes 
downstairs,  and  in  the  court-yard  presents  the  mother 
of  the  bridegroom,  or  his  nearest  female  relative,  with 
the  key  of  the  chamber.  The  mother  then  generally 
goes  upstairs  with  a  steaming  plate  of  kous-cous, 
which  she  places  before  the  new  mistress  of  the  house. 
It  is  not  considered  good  form  to  eat  any  of  this 
delicacy — at  least,  not  for  the  present.  It  is,  how- 
ever, very  good  form  for  the  bride  to  stick  her  finger 
into  the  steaming  mess,  and  rub  a  little  on  her  nose 
saying  the  while  "  Bismillah," — in  the  name  of  God 
The  mother  then  goes  downstairs,  and   hands  over 


298  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

the  key  of  the  gate  that  leads  to  the  outer  courts 
of  the  garden  of  felicity,  as  the  Moors  in  their 
picturesque  language  call  the  bridal  chamber,  and 
he  is  then  master  of  the  situation. 

With  all  manner  of  cries,  which  I  had  reason  to  be 

thankful    D y    did    not    understand,  the    friends 

and  wedding  guests  withdraw  for  the  evening  ;  the 
bridegroom  bounds  upstairs,  unlocks  the  door,  and 
stands  face  to  face  with  his  fate.  The  bride  rushes 
towards  him,  still  carefully  veiled,  throws  herself  at 
his  feet,  kisses  his  hand,  and  hails  him  as  her  lord. 
He  leads  her  again  to  the  divan,  and  places  the 
steaming  kous-cous  again  before  her.  This  time  she 
must  eat.  Slowly  or  quickly,  just  as  his  nature  is, 
whether  he  cares  to  dwell  over  the  details  or  not, 
the  groom  unveils  the  fair  one,  and  for  the  first  time 
in  his  life  sees  the  woman  who  is  now  his  wife.  The 
bride  is  entirely  chosen  by  his  mother  or  female 
relative  in  loco  parentis,  and  I  have  heard  of  very  {q\w 
exceptions  to  the  rule  laid  down  that  an  aristocratic 
Moor  rarely  sees  the  face  of  his  wife  until  after 
marriage. 

His  female  relatives  of  course  call  upon  the  fair 
one  when  the  alliance  is  first  mooted,  and  bring 
him  back  glowing  accounts  of  her  charms  of  face 
and  fii;ure  ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  even  her  eyes  are 
a  sealed  book  to  him  until  the  Ik  Fiah  has  had  his 
say,  and  the  last  marriage  rite  is  complied  with. 
Often  the  bridegroom  has  an  awful  shock  as  the 
veil  is  removed.  .Amusing  stories  are  told  of  how 
mothers  have  deceived  sons  of  whom  they  were  not 
very  fond,  and  many  a    Moor    has    lamented    their 


OUR  JOURNEY    TO    TETUAN.  299 

wedding  customs  which  add  to  the  usual  lottery  of 
marriage  the  dangers  of  that  peculiarly  hazardous 
operation  known  as  buying  a  pig  in  a  poke. 

But  I  will  not  intrude  further  into  the  hymeneal 
mysteries.  The  musicians,  drunk  with  keef  and 
the  excitement  of  the  proceedings,  withdraw  after 
a  stirring  epithalmium,  in  which  the  women  on 
the  housetops  join  with  their  shrill  voices,  and  the 
lights  are  extinguished.  "  Yetz  kuJinlieit  wird  zu 
phlicht." 

On  the  following  day  bride  and  bridegroom  remain 
in  seclusion,  and  are  invisible  to  everybody.  The 
next  day  the  box  in  which  the  bride  was  transported 
to  her  lord's  house  is  placed  on  the  roof,  and  is  an 
announcement  to  their  acquaintance  that  the  wedding 
reception  is  on.  The  bride  receives  her  women 
friends  in  her  new  apartments,  while  the  bridegroom 
generally  hires  a  garden,  if  he  does  not  possess  one, 
outside  the  city,  where  he  and  his  male  friends  picnic 
for  three  or  four  days  and  make  merry.  The 
wedding  festivities  often  last  a  week,  though  only 
for  the  first  three  days  does  the  bride  receive  her 
friends  from  early  morn  until  late  at  night. 

D y     went    to   many    weddings     in     Tetuan, 

where  she  was  always  well  received.  An  invita- 
tion was  generally  bartered  for  in  this  way.  Salem, 
my  boy,  would  call  on  the  bridegroom,  and  tell 
him  that  a  daughter  of  America  wished  to  visit 
and  congratulate  his  bride.  "  What  wedding  present 
does  she  bring  ?  "  was  generally  the  reply.  Salem 
would  barter  until  finally  a  silk  handkerchief  was 
agreed  upon,  and  the  invitation,  in  consequence  of 


300  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

this  arrangement,  was  always  extended.  The  wedding 
reception    of    Rahmana    was    particularly    brilliant, 

according  to  D y's  account.     As  she  started  from 

our  cellar  to  the  house  of  the  Bashaw's  secretary, 
I  saw  that  Salem  was  very  much  troubled  in  spirit, 
and  was  constantly  scrutinizing  her  toilet  with  a 
troubled,  dubious  expression.     Finally  I  asked  him 

what  was  the  matter.     It  seemed   that  D y  was 

wearing  a  very  mannish-looking  sailor  suit,  and 
Salem  was  afraid  that  the  wedding  guests  would 
think  her  a  man,  and  refuse  to  admit  her  into  the 
harem.  She  was  finally  persuaded  to  put  on  more 
feminine  garments,  and  we  all  proceeded  to  the 
house    of  fcstivit}'.     Salem    and    I   had   to  kick  our 

heels  outside  while  D \-  went  in   to  taste  of  the 

good  things  that  were  offered  her.  Rahmana  she 
found  a  very  beautiful  woman,  perhaps  a  little  too 
fat  (she  had  been  carefully  fattened  for  the  occasion), 
and  a  little  too  dark  for  our  taste — nevertheless  a 
very  beautiful  woman.  She  was  only  fourteen  years 
of  age,  but  quite  matured.  She  reclined  half  asleep 
on  a  divan  in  the  reception  room,  attired  in  the 
wedding  garments  which  had  adorned  the  bridal  box 
two  days  before.  This  sleepiness  is  dc  rigucur,  a  com- 
pliment ti)  the  bridegroom,  I    believe,  which  Moorish 

etiquette  exacts.     On  entering  1) y  was  taken  in 

charge  by  one  of  the  family  slaves,  and,  having  pro- 
duced her  wedding  present,  was  escorteil  to  the 
divan  and  presented  to  the  sleeping  beauty,  who 
opened  her  eyes  slowly  for  a  moment,  asked  if  she 
was  married,  if  she  had  betn  married  often,  how 
many  babies  she  had,  and  then  fell  back  on  the  divan, 
exhausted  with  tlie  mental  effort   it   hati   cost  her  to 


OUR   JOURNEY    TO    TETUAX.  3OI 

be  SO  polite.  In  the  middle  of  the  room,  which  was 
very   long,  sat   three    negro   musicians,  who  played 

incessantly  during  the  hour  that  D y  remained 

at  the  reception.  It  is  absolutely  an  insult,  it  appears, 
to  leave  before  your  hour  is  up,  and  }'0U  must  drink 
at  least  three  cups  of  tea  and  eat  as  much  cake  as  you 
can.  On  leaving  you  are  expected  to  make  the 
musicians  and  servants  a  suitable  present.  The 
reception  of  the  bridegroom  in  the  garden  outside 
the  city  is  a  much  simpler  affair.  His  servants  go 
out  early  in  the  morning,  kill  a  sheep  and  prepare 
the  steaming  kous-cous,  and  the  party  gather  in  the 
orange  garden  at  about  seven.  Here  they  gorge  and 
disgorge  sheep  and  kous-cous  until  sunset,  when  the 
bridegroom  returns  to  the  town  and  to  his  matri- 
monial duties. 

Having  been  informed  that  a  large  detachment  of 
the  Shereefian  army  had  reached  Habassi,  and  that  if 
we  delayed  our  return  journey  any  further,  we  might 
have  to  remain  in  Tetuan  for  weeks,  we  started  on 
the  following  day. 

We  pushed  on  hurriedly  to  the  Fondak,  in  our 
endeavour  to  get  as  near  Tangier  as  possible  before 
nightfall,  but  the  mules  as  usual  went  lame,  and  the 
packs  shifted.  When  evening  came  we  were  forced 
to  encamp  on  a  hill-top  about  half  a  mile  away  from 
the  well-known  inn  of  Hadj  Abd-el-Kader,  within 
whose  gates  so  many  Europeans  and  cxploratcurs  en 
Afriqjie  have  for  the  first  time  experienced  the  sting 
of  the  African  insect  world,  infinitely  small  and  exces- 
sively annoying.  We  were  busily  engaged  in  prepar- 
ing dinner,  when  suddenly  our  attention  was  attracted 
by  a  very  formidable-looking  body  of  some  six  hundred 


302  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

mountaineers  coming  straight  up  the  hill-side  towards 
our  encampment.  As  they  drew  nearer  I  could  see 
that  every  man  of  them  was  armed  with  a  repeating 
rifle,  and,  as  they  came  on  steadily  towards  us,  the 
bright  barrels  of  their  rifles  protruding  above  their 
shoulders  glistened  unpleasantly  in  the  waning  sun- 
light— forcible  reminders  of  my  folly  of  having  made 
an  expedition  into  the  interior  when  the  Oued-Ras 
men  were  "  out,"  and  of  the  insanity  of  having  brought 
my  womenkind  with  me.  A  very  short  comparison 
of  our  small  armoury  of  Winchesters  and  Colts  with 
the  armament  of  the  advancing  host  made  me  resign 
all  hope  of  escaping  except  through  the  sweet  uses 
of  diplomacy  and  of  arbitration.  They  were  indeed 
a  motley  and  piratical-looking  crew  as  they  swarmed 
up  the  hill-side,  and  I  noticed  that  I  was  not  the  only 
member  of  the  caravan  whose  knees  gave  symptoms 
of  shipwreck.  Some  of  the  mountaineers  wore  the 
aristocratic  haik  and  burnous,  others  the  humbler 
jclab  of  the  country  folk,  while  not  a  few  for  clolhin;-- 

contented    themselves,  as    D y    remarked,  with 

wearing  pieces  of  rope  around  their  heads.  The  only 
defensive  measure  I  took  was  to  beg  Salem,  our 
interpreter,  to  be  very  "  nice"  with  the  chief  of  the 
advancing  horde,  to  say  that  we  sympathized  deepl)- 
with  his  political  aspirations,  and  thai  in  case  he 
wanted  our  mules  or  our  ammunition,  we  should  be 
delighted  to  place  what  we  had  at  his  service. 

When  they  arrived  within  twenty  paces  of  where 
we  were,  with  natural  uneasiness,  awaiting  the  course 
of  events,  the  discordant  tom-tom  to  which  the  rebels 
had  marched   was  hushed,   and   they  swarmed  gaily 


r. 


4> 


a 

< 


304  MOROCCO  AS  n  is. 

about  the  hollow  square  that  we  had  formed,  and 
began  to  inspect  our  belongings,  without  the  cere- 
mony of  asking  our  leave.  Salem,  meanwhile,  carried 
on  an  animated  conversation  with  them,  but  absolutely 
refused  to  enlighten  us  as  to  what  was  going  on. 

I  knew  from  experience  that  Salem  was  telling 
some  frightful  lie,  so  I  did  not  insist,  having  great 
confidence  in  the  plausibility  of  the  yarns  he  evolved 
from  his  bullet-shaped  head,  and  the  capacity  he  had 
often  shown  for  getting  me  out  of  tight  places.     Then 

the  head  man  came  up  to  where  D y  and  I  stood 

— I  suppose  he  noticed  that  this  was  the  weakest 
point  in  the  hollow  square — and  shouted  ''  spiritoo, 
spiritoo  !  ! !  " 

I  thought  he  shouted  then  ;  now  that  my  acquaint- 
ance with  the  Moors  is  more  extensive  I  see  that  he 
had  really  modulated  his  voice  to  tones  which  in 
Morocco  would  be  considered  suitable  for  drawing- 
room  conversation.  With  that  turn  for  the  acquire- 
ment of  foreign  languages  which  characterizes  her 
sex,  and  especially  her  countrywomen,  D y  con- 
cluded that  the  cry  was  a  demand  for  licjuid  refresh- 
ment of  a  spirituous  nature,  and  commenced  jjouring 
out  with  a  liberal  hand  the  last  carefully  hoardcc^ 
drops  of  my  rye  whiskey,  which  I  was  jealously 
guarding  to  celebra'e  the  birthday  of  the  father  of 
our  countr)'.  I'cjrtunately  for  my  feelings  and^ic 
fitting  celebration  of  that  glorious  day,  the  interpreter 
announced  that  by  "spiritoo  "  the  insurgents  meant 
matches,  and  wc  very  gladly  gave  them  all  our  store 
to  light  them  on  their  way,  while  fervently  pra)ing 
that    it    would    never  again    cross    ours.       In    a    few 


OUR  JOURNEY    TO    TETUAN.  305 

moments  the  pipe  of  peace,  or  rather  the  cigarette  in 
this  instance,  was  lighted,  and  we  were  all  talking 
war  talk.  As  far  as  I  could  make  out  from  them,  we 
children  of  America  were  the  only  people  that  our 
ferocious-looking  visitors  were  not  going  to  kill  in 
the  Bashawlik.  In  about  half  an  hour,  however, 
with  more  discordant  tom-toming,  and  with  embraces 
for  Salem,  who  had  ingratiated  himself  wonderfully 
into  their  good  graces,  our  visitors  moved  away,  wish- 
ing us  effusively  farewell  and  a  pleasant  journey. 
The  wise  talebs  of  the  University  might  have  taken 
exception  to  the  pronunciation  of  our  parting  saluta- 
tions, yet  they  would  have  been  compelled  to  admit 
that  they  were  not  wanting  in  a  certain  accent  of 
sincerity — we  indeed  wished  them  far  away.  I  dwell 
particularly  on  the  very  makeshift  nature  of  the 
insurgents'  attire,  because  it  struck  me  at  the  time  as 
all  the  more  incongruous  owing  to  the  striking  unifor- 
mity o^  their  weapons. 

I  dfa  not  see  among  the  six  hundred  a  single 
ancient  flint  lock,  nor  yet  one  of  those  inferior 
repeating  rifles  which  are  known  as  Belgicos  in 
ISIorocco.  Every  man  of  the  six  hundred  carried  a 
fiew  repeating  rifle  with  the  latest  improvements  and 
patents.  The  rifles  were  quite  new,  the  men  seemed 
to  have  been  armed  simultaneously,  and  the  gun 
covers  which,  as  the  mountaineers  were  on  the  war- 
path, they  wore  tightly  bound  down  around  their 
heads  in  turban  fashion,  were  without  exception  of  a 
very  bright  red  flannel.  A  {q.\\i  hours  later  the  rebels 
reached  the  villages  of  Gharbeya,  and,  as  the  Sheik 
Benzouini,  the  Bashaw's   Kalifa,  went  out  into  the 

X 


306  MOROCCO  AS   IT  IS. 

market-place  on  the  following  morning  to  confiscate 
produce  in  lieu  of  taxes,  they  filled  him  full  of  bullets 
and  mortally  wounded  half  a  dozen  of  his  escort. 
Bcnzeuoni's  death  is  no  loss  to  civilization.  He 
will  be  remembered  in  France  for  having  made 
several  years  ago  a  murderous  assault  upon  M.  de 
Martiniere,  the  distinguished  traveller  and  archa:- 
ologist. 

The  last  few  days  of  our  stay  in  Tangier  were  very 
exciting,  and  we  were  so  fortunate  as  to  see  the  end 
of  the  Oued-Ras  rebellion,  in  which  we  had  been 
mixed  up  a  great  deal  more  closely  than  was  either 
comfortable  or  safe.  The  new  governor,  Sid  Abdur- 
rhamen-Bcn-Adussadak,  made  iiis  formal  entry  into 
the  city  coming  from  Oudfda,  where  he  left  anything 
but  pleasant  memories  behind  him.  I  imagine  the 
deposition  of  the  old  15ashaw  would  simply  be  another 
instance  of  where  plus  ca  change  plus  cest  le  viiiiic 
chose.  However,  Sid  Abdurrhamen  was  formally 
proclaimed  l^ashaw  from  the  steps  of  the  mosque. 
The  entry  of  the  governor,  surrounded  by  one  hundred 
mounted  men  on  magnificent  Abda  horses,  was  a 
striking  pageant,  and  characterized  by  great  pomp  and 
ceremony;  the  public,  however,  participated  in  the 
functions  in  the  most  perfunctory  manner.  Indeed 
the  country  people  held  quite  aloof  from  them  as  far 
as  was  compatible  with  the  teachings  of  common 
prudence,  and  the  Tangerines  are,  as  is  known,  ever 
ready  to  bow  down  before  the  master  of  the  situation^ 
the  king  of  the  moment. 

Secretly,  like  a  thief  in  the  night,  the  deposed  Sid 
Mahommed,  on  the  evening  preceding  the  arrival  of 


OUR  JOURNEY    TO    TETUAN.  33/ 

his  successor,  stole  quietly  out  of  the  Casbah,  and, 
accompanied  by  some  score  of  horsemen,  in  whose 
custody  he  really  was^  set  out  upon  his  journey  to 
the  Court  of  Fez,  where  the  Sultan  is  sternly  awaiting 
an  account  of  his  stewardship.  But  the  most  striking 
scene  of  all  that  we  witnessed,  was  the  entry  of  the 
successful  rebels  into  the  town  to  take  the  oath  of 
loyalty  to  the  new  Bashaw,  and  to  renew  their  alle- 
giance to  the  Sultan.  They  certainly  came  flushed 
with  pride  born  of  their  unexpected  successes,  and 
with  many  mental  reservations  as  to  their  future 
course  of  action  ;  but,  as  far  as  the  demands  of  cere- 
monial went,  the  unrepenting  rebels  complied  in 
every  detail  and  particular.  The  illustration  is  from 
a  photograph  I  was  so  fortunate  as  to  succeed  in 
taking  as  they  entered  the  Sok,  or  market-place, 
opposite  the  German  Legation,  on  the  road  which 
winds  up  the  elevated  hill  leading  to  the  Casbah 
and  the  Bashaw's  palace.  The  chief  Sheik  of  the 
rebellious  Oued-Ras  tribe  leads  the  way  humbly  on 
foot,  suing  as  a  suppliant  for  the  peace  that  he  has 
imposed.  He  is  surrounded  by  his  sons  and  chief 
men,  who  carry  the  holy  banners  of  red  woven  silk, 
many  of  which,  it  is  said,  the  Oued-Ras  carried  against 
the  Portuguese  four  hundred  years  ago. 

Some  of  the  banners  are  sacred  to  the  particular 
saints  to  whose  worship  the  Oued-Ras  are  especially 
given,  such  as  Sid  Absalom,  Mulai  Abd-el-Kadr  and 
Sidi  Boaza.  As  the  Sheiks  and  chief  men  enter  the 
Casbah  Palace  to  make  obeisance  before  the  new 
Bashaw,  these  banners  are  placed  in  the  Kouba,  or 
burial  place,  of  Sid  Saidi,  one  of  the  patron  saints  of 

X   2 


308  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

Tangier,  and,  as  the  men  of  war  within  the  palace 
attack  the  steaming  kous-cous-o  with  which  the  peace 
is  sealed,  the  holy  men  of  peace  without  commune  and 
hold  converse  over  the  remains  of  the  saintly  Saidi — 
may  he  rest  in  peace  after  having  brought  about  so 
happy  a  union  of  church  and  state.  Sid  Mahommed, 
the  deposed  Bashaw,  goes  to  Fez  a  prisoner,  although 
the  honours  due  to  his  rank  are  still  paid  to  him. 

It  is  indeed  a  pleasure  to  think  that  the  usual 
method  of  dealing  with  deposed  governors  will  in 
all  probability  be  observed  in  this  case.  He  will 
doubtless  be  received  by  the  Sultan  in  formal  audience, 
and  apparently  with  great  cordiality.  He  will  then 
be  sent  a  scented  and  a  perfumed  cup  of  tea,  into 
which  will  have  been  introduced  a  quantity  of  arsenic 
sufficient  to  bring  his  earthly  career  to  an  immediate 
end.  The  deposed  Bashaw,  who  only  succeeded  his 
father  as  governor  in  May,  1891^  was  an  out-and-out 
scamp,  and  even  the  Sultan,  who  is  not  squeamish, 
would  only  give  him  the  appointment  for  which  he 
was  so  unfitted  in  return  for  the  large  cash  bribe  of 
sixty  thousand  Spanish  dollars — in  Morocco  a  very 
high  price  even  for  so  high  a  post.  The  new  Bashaw 
immediately  began  to  reimburse  himself  for  his 
money  out  of  pocket  by  the  most  horrible  exactions 
and  cruelties  to  the  long-suffering  Kabylcs.  Among 
the  man)'  atrocious  crimes  that  are  charged  to  the 
account  of  Sid  Mahommed,  is  the  murder  of  his 
father  in  order  that  hu  might  obtain  more  quickly 
the  succession  to  the  famil)'  lortunc,  and  the  attempted 
murder  of  his  foster-mother,  who,  disgusted  with  the 
life   lie   led,    left   his   house   and   sought  refuge  in  the 


Of 7?    70UKXEY    TO    TETUAN.  309 

home  of  the  English  Shereefa  of  Wazzan.  Fear- 
ine  that  the  old  woman  would  reveal  some  of  his 
crimes,  the  Bashaw  made  several  attempts  to  have 
her  poisoned,  attempts  which,  it  is  said,  were  only- 
thwarted  by  the  sleepless  vigilance  of  the  English 
Shereefa. 

Moorish  cruelty  could  perhaps  have  stomached 
these  "  misdemeanours,"  but  the  crime  that  followed 
involving  as  it  did  a  breach  of  the  laws  of  hospitality, 
so  highly  honoured,  even  in  these  days,  by  the  de- 
generate Moors,  was  the  immediate  cause  of  the 
insurrection  and  of  his  deposition. 

Sheik  H'mam,  of  whom  we  have  read  so  much  in 
the  papers  of  late,  three  short  months  ago  was  one 
of  the  most  popular  and  powerful  head-men  of  the 
Anghera  tribe.  The  Angherites  are  closely  allied 
to  the  Oued-Ras  by  kinship  and  interest.  He  had 
been  a  brigand  and  a  highwayman,  and,  having 
been  very  successful  in  both  occupations,  had  been 
unanimously  chosen  by  the  Angherites  as  their  Caid, 
or  Imperial  Prefect,  but  the  Sultan,  for  some  reason 
or  other,  certainly  not  because  he  took  exception 
to  his  antecedents,  refused  to  confirm  him  in  the 
office. 

The  Angherites,  knowing  full  well  that,  whether 
H'mam  was  head-man  or  not,  he  would  exact  taxes 
of  them,  preferred  to  pay  in  their  produce  to  him  and 
to  him  alone,  rather  than  to  be  compelled  to  pay 
the  Imperial  Prefect  and  H'mam  in  the  bargain,  so 
for  six  months  no  revenue  came  to  the  Sultan  from 
this  rich  section  of  his  Empire.  Finally,  listening  to 
the  treacherous    Caid  Edriss,   the  ill-advised   Sheik 


310  MOROCCO  AS  IT  IS. 

accepted  an  invitation  from  the  Governor  of  Tangier, 
and,  accompanied  by  Edriss,  came  to  a  meeting  with 
the  Governor  to  discuss  their  difficulties  and  to  arrive 
at  some  arrangement. 

While  seated  at  his  table  within  his  house,  and  after 
having  broken  bread  with  him,  H'mam  was  suddenly 
surrounded  by  soldiery,  disarmed,  and  thrown  into 
the  Casbah  prison,  to  house  with  the  ordinary  run  of 
malefactors  and  criminals. 

The  whole  country  side  roundly  denounced  this 
treachery,  and^  fearing  assassination,  the  Bashaw, 
Sid  Mahommed,  never  again  appeared  in  public 
without  a  strong  guard.  But,  despite  his  guard,  and 
the  all  but  omnipotent  power  he  possessed  for  life 
and  death  over  all  dwelling  in  his  Bashawlik,  the 
villagers  and  the  country  Kabyles  were  not  to  be 
intimidated.  Whenever  he  rode  out  they  stopped 
their  nostrils  on  catching  sight  of  the  malodorous 
miscreant,  and,  as  he  rode  by  them,  they  spat  con- 
temptuously on  the  ground  at  his  feet.  The  re- 
moval of  this  Bashaw  does  not  indicate,  I  regret  to 
say,  any  sincere  desire,  on  the  Sultan's  part,  to  im- 
prove the  administration  of  his  country.  Though 
with  the  eyes  of  Europe  upon  him,  and  in  the  pre- 
sence of  Resident  Ministers  and  Consuls,  he  is  apt 
to  endeavour  to  show  to  some  advantage  in  his 
administration  of  Tangier,  the  alternative  presented 
to  him  was  cither  to  send  an  arm\'  to  "cat  up" 
the  country  of  the  Oucd-Ras  and  the  Angheritcs,  or 
to  remove  the  Bashaw,  and  he  chose  the  latter.  His 
decision  was  not,  I  am  afraid,  entirely  uninfluenced  by 
the  fact  that    of  course  the  new   liishaw  would  have 


OUR  JOURNEY   TO    TETUAN.  3II 

to  pay  him  a  large  sum  of  money  for  the  appoint- 
ment. 

The  Sultan  very  wisely  chose  to  depose  the 
Bashaw,  and,  indeed,  had  he  attempted  it,  it  would 
have  proved  no  easy  task  to  "eat  up  "  the  Oued-Ras 
country.  At  the  very  outbreak  of  the  troubles  Sid 
Mahommed  Torres,  the  Moorish  Minister  for  Foreign 
Affairs,  resident  in  Tangier,  notified  the  Court  in 
Fez  of  the  almost  miraculous  improvement  that  had 
taken  place  in  the  armament  of  the  hill  tribes.  Six 
weeks  previous  to  the  outbreak  of  the  revolt,  they 
had  all  been  armed,  like  the  average  run  of  Moorish 
mountaineers,  with  the  old  flint  locks  of  Suss  or 
Tetuan  manufacture,  but  the  outbreak  of  the  revolu- 
tion found  them  in  possession  of  some  six  or  eight 
thousand  modern  repeating  rifles,  thus  constituting 
a  force  with  which,  owing  to  the  hilly  nature  of  their 
country,  the  whole  Shereefian  Army  would  hardly 
have  been  able  to  cope  with  any  certainty  of  success. 
So  armed,  these  hill  tribes  constitute  really  an  im- 
periuvi  in  impcrio,  which  the  Sultan  will,  in  the  near 
future,  either  have  to  destroy  or  to  treat  as  peer. 

The  Christian  ministers  in  Tangier,  who  do  not 
dwell  together  in  harmony,  are  now  having  an  angry 
war  of  words  as  to  the  provenance  of  these  rifles. 
It  is,  of  course,  an  easy  thing  to  smuggle  rifles  into 
Morocco,  and  it  is  a  very  profitable  business.  You 
buy  a  rifle  in  Gibraltar  for  ten  dollars  that  you  can 
sell  in  the  interior  of  Morocco  for  fifty  or  sixty  dollars. 
The  smugglers  run  their  arms  over  in  faluccas,  and 
beach  them  generally  somewhere  between  Cape 
Spartel  and  Tangier.     One  smuggler,  who  was  kind 


312  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

enough  to  initiate  me  into  his  modus  operaiidi,  told 
me  that  he  ran  his  arms  right  into  Tangier  Bay  after 
dark,  and  unloaded  them  on  the  beach  not  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  from  the  Custom  House. 

"Who  do  you  get  to  assist  you  in  unloading?  "  I 
inquired. 

"  I  generally  employ  the  porters  of  the  Custom 
House/'  he  replied. 

Then,  seeing  my  surprise  and  amusement,  he 
added,  in  explanation, — 

"  They  are  more  skilful  in  unloading  than  other 
less  practised  wharf  men  or  dock  labourers  would 
be." 

He  said  it  had  never  occurred  to  him  that  this 
procedure  was  dangerous,  and  he  was  certain  it  had 
never  occurred  to  any  of  his  helpers  to  denounce 
liim  for  smuggling.  lUit  the  mystery  is,  where  the 
hill-men  got  the  money  to  buy  these  rifles — a  mj-stcry 
which  at  the  present  moment  the  Court  oflicials  in 
Fez  would  very  much  like  to  solve.  They  do  not 
hesitate  to  say,  though  their  statements  are  not  sup- 
ported by  any  evidence,  that  the  rifles  came  to  the 
Oued-Ras  tribe  from  official  British  sources.  They 
claim  that  England  has  been  for  a  longtime  desirous 
of  taking  possession  of  Tangier  and  the  surrounding 
countr)',  that  the)-  only  await  an  opportunity  for  so 
doing,  and  that,  naturally,  they  wish  to  become 
popular  in  the  eyes  of  the  surrounding  Kabylcs, 
whose  territory  they  are  believed  to  wish  to  annex. 


CHAPTER  XVll. 

THE  JEWS    IN   MOROCCO. 

The  early  Jews  who  came  to  Morocco  after  the  Babylonian 
captivity — "We  are  those  who  fled  from  the  Jewish  robber 
Joshua"  —  Semitic  warriors  and  mountaineers  —  The 
Spanish  Jews— The  filth  of  the  Mellahs— Treatment  of  a 
rich  Jewish  merchant— Caid  Gerlalli  of  Demnat— An 
"arsenic-proof"  saint— Penalty  of  splashing  mud  on  a 
Caid — Further  removal  of  restrictions  on  the  Jews  de- 
manded. 

There  are  three  separate  and  distinct  classes  of  Jews 
in  Morocco,  the  Spanish,  the  Moorish,  and  the  Atlas 
Jews.  They  came  into  the  country  at  different 
periods  :  each  speaks  a  distinct  language  ;  they  in- 
habit different  sections  of  the  Empire,  and,  living 
under  totally  distinct  conditions,  hold  no  com- 
munication with  one  another  whatsoever. 

The  Atlas  Jews,  it  is  said,  left  Judaea  long  before 
the  Babylonian  captivity,  and,  wandering  into 
Mauritania,  were  well  received  by  the  Berber  race, 
then  undisputed  possessors  of  the  country.  When 
in  succession  the  Carthaginians,  Romans,  Vandals, 
and  Mahommedans  in  their  turn  overran  and  con- 
quered the  country,  the  aboriginal  Maurii  and  Berber 
tribes,  who  refused  to   submit  to  a  foreign  yoke,  were 


314  MOROCCO  AS   IT  IS, 

driven  into  the  mountainous  districts  of  the  greater 
Atlas  and  the  Riff  Highlands. 

The  early  Jewish  settlers  followed  their  fortunes , 
and  while  I  believe  they  never  intermarry,  their 
descendants  now  live  in  perfect  harmony  and  peace 
with  one  another.  The  mountain  Jews  of  the  Atlas 
and  of  the  Riff  country  speak  generally  the  Berber 
dialect.  They  carry  arms  and  are  very  warlike. 
They  have  no  dealings  at  all  with  their  co-religionists 
of  the  plains.  It  is  said,  however,  that  they  can  still 
read  Hebrew,  that  they  possess  a  portion  of  the  Hebrew 
sacred  writings,  and  that  they  preserve  their  religion 
in  its  pristine  purity.  There  is  at  least  one  Jewish 
gentleman  whom  I  met  in  Fez  of  the  belief  that 
these  mountaineers  are  the  direct  descendants  of  the 
lost  tribes  of  Israel.  Certainly  their  origin  is  very 
uncertain.  The  Roman  historian  Procopius,  who 
accompanied  lielisarius  in  his  campaigns  against  the 
Vandals  in  Africa,  claims  to  have  seen  a  pillar  in  the 
town  called  Tigisis,  which  bore  the  remarkable  in- 
scription :  "  \Vc  are  those  who  fled  from  the  Jewish 
robber  Joshua,  the  son  of  Nun  ;"  and  the  Ik-rbcrs 
also  have  a  tradition  that  some  of  iheir  ancestors 
came  from  Canaan,  whence  they  were  driven  by  the 
children  of  Israel,  but  no  other  record  of  this  pillar  is 
extant. 

The  .Spanish  Jews  came  to  Morocco  with  their 
expulsion  from  Spain,  principally  during  the  reign  of 
I'iiilip  HI.  On  their  arrival  they  were  subjected  to 
insult  and  every  kind  of  outrage  ;  many  of  them 
were  reduced  to  slavery  ;  some  were  murdered  and 
others  compelled  to  return  to  Spain,  where  they  were 


THE  JEWS  IN  MOROCCO.  31  5 

forced    to    profess   Christianity.       Under   European 
protection  they  now  conduct  the  commerce  of  the . 
country,  and  their  importance  to   the  well-being  of 
the  State  is    fully  recognized    even   by  the    Moors 
themselves. 

The  Moorish  Jews  are  distinct  from  those  who 
emigrated  from  Palestine  after  the  Roman  conquest. 
They  dwell  among  the  wild  tribes  of  the  lower  Atlas 
and  the  nomadic  Arabs  of  the  plains.  Unlike  the 
Atlas  and  the  Spanish  Jews,  they  have  quite  lost  all 
knowledge  of  their  mother  tongue,  and  are  to  a  great 
extent  ignorant  of  their  ancestry  and  history.  In 
the  large  towns  the  Jews  are  obliged  to  reside  in  a 
separate  quarter  called  the  Mellah,  the  gates  of  which 
are  closed  and  placed  under  guard  at  night. 

Formerly  the  Jews  throughout  the  country  were 
compelled  to  walk  barefoot,  when  they  ventured  into 
the  Medinah  or  Moorish  quarter,  and  always  when 
passing  a  mosque.  They  are  not  allowed  to  mount 
on  horseback,  the  horse  being  far  too  noble  an  animal 
to  bear  so  despicable  a  burden,  nor  are  they  per- 
mitted to  sit  cross-legged  in  the  presence  of  a  Moor. 
I  have  often  seen  in  Fez  and  in  Tetuan  Moorish 
boys  beat  and  spit  upon  and  pull  by  the  beard 
any  Jew,  however  respectable,  they  may  chance  to 
meet  in  the  streets.  While  in  the  letter  many 
oppressive  enactments  and  barbarous  customs  under 
which  the  Jews  suffered  were  modified  after  the 
visit  of  the  late  Sir  Moses  Montefiore  to  the  Sultan 
Sidi  Mahommed  in  1864,  the  hostile  spirit  of  the 
Moorish  population  towards  the  Jews,  especially  in 
the  interior,  is  about  the  same  as  before. 


3^0  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

The  Jews  are  still  compelled  to  walk  barefoot  in 
all  the  towns  in  the  interior,  and  to  wear  a  distinctive 
dress.  When  I  was  in  Fez  last  summer,  the  consular 
aj^ent  of  the  United  States,  Moses-ben- Amoor-bcn- 
Azzouli,  often  came  to  my  camp  bringing  letters  and 
paying  me  the  usual  calls  of  civility.  It  was  during 
the  hottest  month  of  the  year,  and  from  the  Fez 
Mcllah  to  my  tent  the  distance  must  have  been  a 
mile  and  a  half  at  least,  along  a  dusty  sun-beaten 
road.  He  is  a  man  of  superior  education,  and  carries 
on  a  large  business,  perhaps  the  largest  commercial 
house  in  Fez.  From  what  I  heard,  I  should  imagine 
that  he  was  worth  half  a  million  of  dollars  at  least. 
But  this  man,  who  had  already  attained  the  dignit)- 
of  sixty  years,  was  not  allowed  even  to  ride  a  mule 
through  the  streets  of  Fez,  so  fanatical  is  the  populace 
of  the  Western  Mecca.  When  m\-  letters  came  he 
was  accustomed  to  toil  through  the  hot  sun  to  ni}' 
camp,  not  wishing  to  entrust  them  to  one  of  his 
employes,  and  when  he  went  on  a  journey  outside 
the  city,  he  would  walk  to  some  spot  beyond  the  city 
gates,  and  there  mount  his  mule.  In  the  interior 
the  prescribed  custom  of  the  Jews  is  a  black  or  dark- 
blue  caftan,  belted  at  the  waist,  a  black  skull-cap, 
and  black  shoes  and  slippers.  They  must  be  all  in 
black,  as  this  is  a  colour  despised  by  the  Moors.  The 
Jewish  women  are  remarkable  for  their  beautiful 
faces.  The  handsomest  and  most  intellectual  face 
I  think  I  have  ever  seen  was  that  of  a  Jewish 
woman,  of  about  twenty  years  of  age,  in  whose  house 
last  summer  we  were  invited  to  eat  the  "  baked 
meats,"  the    onl)'  food    allowed  on  Friday,  washed 


THE   JEWS   IN  MOROCCO.  31/ 

down  by  a  white,  innocent-looking  liquid,  which 
turned  out  to  be  more  powerful  indeed  than  gun- 
cotton.  Her  features  were  clean-cut,  like  the  cameo 
portrait  of  a  Roman  mother.  Her  figure,  however, 
and  this  is  the  case  with  all  the  Jewish  women  I 
have  seen  in  Morocco,  was  very  faulty,  indeed  flabby 
and  shapeless,  and  their  walk  is  rather  a  duck-like 
waddle.  They  absolutely  do  not  know  how  to  walk. 
On  festivals  and  gala  days  they  wear  remarkably 
gaudy  costumes  profusely  embroidered  in  gold. 
After  marriage  the  women  carefully  conceal  their 
hair  from  sight  under  bright-coloured  silk  kerchiefs. 
They  have  also  a  curious  custom  of  wearing  a  bustle, 
but  not  in  the  place  where  bustles  are  usually  worn. 
They  wear  their  bustles  in  front.  The  underlying 
idea  evidently  is  that  they  wish  to  give  the  impres- 
sion, in  and  out  of  season,  of  being  in  the  way  of 
those  who  love  their  lords,  even  when  their  condition 
does  not  justify  such  a  conclusion. 

Volumes  have  been  filled  with  stories  of  wrongs 
perpetrated  by  Moors  on  the  Jews,  but  it  is  not  my 
purpose  to  enter  into  the  question  in  such  detail. 
Indeed,  from  what  I  have  seen  I  can  say  that  the 
interests  of  Jews  who  may  be  wronged  in  Morocco 
are  better  taken  care  of  than  the  interests  of  the 
Christian,  unless  the  latter  have  some  exceptional 
influence  and  position.  The  Jewish  affiliated  societies 
of  Europe  and  of  England  have  active  correspondents 
in  Morocco,  who  report  expeditiously  and  fully  the 
slightest  incident  by  which  one  of  their  co-religionists 
suffers.  Their  zealous  interest,  and  the  awakening 
of  the  Shereefian   Court  to  the  fact  that  should  the 


3l8  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

Jews,  as  has  been  suggested,  leave  the  country  in  any 
great  numbers,  all  trade  and  commerce  would  cease, 
have  brought  it  about  that  while  not  a  pleasant  place 
for  them  to  dwell  in,  the  Jews,  if  careful,  can  live  in  Mo- 
rocco. I  will,  however,  tell  the  story  of  the  Demnat 
atrocitics,which  occurred  in  the  years  1884-85,  because 
it  has  other  and  very  important  bearing  upon  the  pre- 
sent situation  in  ^Morocco.  Caid  Gerlali,  the  Governor 
of  this  populous  town,  near  the  city  of  Morocco,  was  an 
Anti-Semite  who  would  have  commanded  the  suffrages 
of  M.  Drumont,  the  Marquis  de  Mores,  and  even  Herr 
Von  Shoenerer,  allowed  his  soldiers  and  his  followers 
to  murder  the  Jews  in  the  g/ictfo,  and  c\cn  in  the 
sacred  precincts  of  the  synagogue  itself,  with  as  much 
equanimity  as  though  they  were  flies.  The  reports 
of  these  atrocities  reached  England,  and  Sir  John 
Hay  was  directed  by  the  Foreign  Office  to  investigate 
the  matter.  Of  all  persons  in  the  world  the  British 
Minister  to  Morocco  chose  Sid  Boobker  to  make  this 
investigation.  Boobker  is  notorious,  in  Morocco,  as 
the  man  whom  the  late  Arthur  Leared,  a  well-known 
traveller  in  Morocco,  charged  with  having  instigated 
or  connived  at  an  attempt  to  poison  him  whilst  he 
was  living  in  Boobker's  house,  in  the  city  of  Morocco, 
lioobker  went  to  Demnat,  and  then  furnished  Sir 
John  with  a  report  completely  exculpating  the 
accused  Governor.  This  document  was  forwarded 
to  the  Foreign  Office,  and  regarded  as  a  truthful 
statement  of  the  affair  from  an  impartial  source.  In 
the  winter  of  1S85,  however,  (aid  Gerlali  indulged 
in  some  more  Jiuicnlictzcn.  Unoffending,  innocent 
men  were  killed,  women  were  outraged,  and  children 


THE  JEWS   IN  MOROCCO.  3 19 

maltreated.  The  reports  of  these  outrages  were  in- 
vestigated by  the  French,  Spanish,  and  the  English 
]\Iinisters,  and  this  time  Sir  John  acted  more  ener- 
getically, though  he  does  not  seem  to  have  lost  faith  in 
Boobker,  who  had  certainly  misrepresented  the  matter 
to  him.  Caid  Gerlali  was  ordered  by  the  Sultan 
to  appear  at  court,  and  answer  the  charges  brought 
against  him.  He  was  received  by  the  Sultan,  and 
a  cup  of  tea,  in  which  was  enough  arsenic  to  kill  a 
bullock,  was  administered  to  him.  The  Sultan  had 
hit  upon  this  as  the  best  way  to  terminate  an  incident 
that  was  causing  him  so  much  annoyance. 

After  the  audience  Caid  Gerlali  started  for  Demnat, 
which  he  reached  in  an  almost  dying  condition. 
However,  he  miraculously  recovered  from  the  effects 
of  the  arsenic,  and  from  that  moment  was  treated  by 
the  Sultan  with  the  respect  due  to  one  possessing  so 
strong  a  constitution.  Indeed,  though  the  represen- 
tatives of  the  three  powers — England,  France  and 
Italy — presented  identical  notes  to  the  Shereefian 
Court,  demanding  the  removal  of  a  Governor,  nothing 
was  done  in  the  matter.  Caid  Gerlali  was  regarded 
as  an  arsenic-proof  saint,  and  his  power  became  great 
in  the  land.  The  identical  note  of  the  three  great 
powers  Avas  disregarded,  and  the  fanatical  Caid  ruled 
it  over  Demnat  for  three  years  more,  when  he  came 
to  his  death,  I  believe,  by  natural  causes.  No  com- 
pensation was  ever  paid  the  families  of  the  murdered 
Jews,  and  in  fact  the  whole  matter  was  dropped  in  a 
most  mysterious  manner.  I  dwell  upon  this  incident 
at  some  length,  because  it  is  regarded  by  those  who 
know  Morocco    thoroughly  as  being  the   immediate 


320  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

cause   of  the  present   defiant  spirit  to  European  op- 
position which  prevails  in  the  councils  of  the  Sultan. 

England,  Italy  and  France  demanded  the  removal 
of  a  subordinate  official  for  just  and  righteous  cause, 
and  their  demand  being  disregarded,  the  incident 
was  dropped.  No  wonder,  after  such  treatment  of 
European  demands  had  been  received  without  a 
murmur,  the  Moors  have  an  exaggerated  opinion  of 
their  importance.  The  incident,  however,  formed  the 
high-water  mark  of  cruelty  to  the  Jews.  About  this 
timCj  despite  the  restrictions  that  were  placed  upon 
emigration,  large  numbers  of  Jews  began  to  leave  the 
country,  and  have  since  settled  in  the  United  States, 
in  \'enezuela,  and  in  England,  and  it  is  very  probable 
that,  seeing  the  ruin  this  would  bring  upon  the  in- 
dustries of  the  country,  the  Sultan  gave  orders  that  a 
better  and  more  humane  treatment  should  be  ac- 
corded this  so  necessary  and  indispensable  class  of 
his  subjects. 

The  late  Sir  William  Kirby  Green,  in  one  of  the 
last  despatches  he  sent  to  the  Foreign  Office,  stated 
that  the  only  thing  in  Morocco  that  gave  him  reason 
to  think  that  improvement  of  existing  circumstances 
under  the  present  n'^iinc  might  be  possible  in  the 
Empire  of  Morocco,  was  the  more  humane  and 
civilized  manner  in  which  the  Jews  were  treated. 
And  this  statement  was  undoubtedly  true.  Morocco 
of  to-day  is  certainly  behind  even  the  civilization 
that  obtained  in  England  in  the  days  of  Richard  the 
Lion-hearted  and  of  King  John.  Wwi  the  Jew  in 
M<jrocco  to-day  receives  a  much  m(jre  humane  treat- 
ment at  the  hands  of  the  Fileli  Shereefs  than  did  the 


THE  JEWS   IN  MOROCCO.  321 

Jews  at  the  hands  of  the  Plantagenet  kings.  The 
Jew  in  Morocco  has  a  certain  legal  status,  though 
the  liabilities  that  press  upon  him,  such  as  the  refusal 
to  accept  his  evidence  in  a  court  of  civil  law,  among 
others,  are  heavy.  Still,  as  the  Sultan  has  not  failed 
to  remark,  when,  as  he  considered  it,  "badgered" 
about  the  Jew  question,  harsh  European  critics  of 
his  regime  should  look  nearer  home,  and  improve 
matters  in  Roumania,  where  the  Jews  are  compelled 
to  serve  in  the  army,  and  to  pay  taxes,  but  have  no 
legal  status  whatever.  But  it  cannot  be  denied  that 
the  daily  life  of  the  Jew  is  still  embittered  by  reli- 
gious persecution,  and  his  other  movements  hampered 
by  the  fierce,  undying  racial  hatred.  Last  July,  in 
Fez,  we  arrived  suddenly,  and  without  any  warning 
whatever,  at  the  house  of  our  consular  agent,  Ben- 
azzouli  in  the  niellah,  while  brushing  off  the  dust 
of  travel,  and  breakfasting  before  proceeding  to 
the  garden  in  which  we  were  to  encamp  during  our 
stay  in  Fez,  we  heard  loud  and  piteous  cries  in  the 
street,  a  volley  of  curses,  and  a  clatter  of  hurrying  feet. 
Finally  a  poor  wretch  appeared  in  the  doorway,  a 
Jew,  with  the  sombre  caftan  and  the  black  skull-cap 
that  they  are  all  compelled  to  wear,  and  threw  him- 
self at  the  feet  of  our  host,  kissing  his  shoes,  the  hem 
of  his  garment,  and  squirming  and  writhing  about  on 
the  floor  to  excite  our  pity  and  show  the  need  he  was 
in  of  our  protection.  He  was  quite  out  of  breath 
and  speechless  for  ten  minutes  at  least,  panting,  with 
his  tongue  hanging  out,  like  a  hound  in  the  dog  days. 
At  last  he  told  his  story,  which  we  afterwards  found 
was  quite  true,  and  even  substantiated   by  Moorish 

Y 


322  MOROCCO  AS   IT  IS. 

testimony.  He  took  off  his  caftan  and  showed  us 
where  his  body  was  black  and  blue  and  covered  with 
stripes  of  heavy  sticks.  He  had  been  walking^,  it 
seemed,  hurriedly  along"  one  of  the  main  thorough- 
fares of  Fez  on  some  business  errand  for  Bcn-azzouli, 
in  whose  employ  he  was,  when  in  his  haste  he  stepped 
into  a  puddle  of  mud  and  water,  splashing  slightly 
the  clothes  of  a  Caid,  who  was  riding  by  in  all  the 
gorgeous  splendour  of  his  official  robes.  The  Caid 
cursed  him,  cut  him  across  the  face  with  his  whip, 
and  ordered  his  slaves  who  were  following  him  to 
pursue  the  man  even  into  the  mcllaJi,  and  not  to  re- 
turn until  they  could  tell  him  that  the  Jew  dog  had 
been  flogged  to  death.  Hearing  his  words,  the 
miserable  fellow  fell  prostrate  before  the  Moorish 
lord,  and  besought  him  to  forgive  him,  explaining 
how  accidental  his  offence  had  been  ;  but  the  slaves 
of  the  Caid  set  upon  him  with  their  staves,  and  finally 
he  was  compelled  to  take  to  his  heels  and  started  to 
run  in  the  direction  of  the  vicllah.  Seeing  what  was 
going  on,  the  idle  Fazzi  in  the  streets  through  which 
he  passed  naturally  showed  their  sympathy  with  the 
proceeding  by  throwing  stones,  hitting  him  with 
sticks,  and  doing  everything  in  their  power  to  retard 
his  flight.  Through  a  crcxss-fire  of  sticks  and  stones 
the  poor  wretch  had  succeeded  in  reaching  the  mcllali^ 
pursued  right  up  to  the  door  of  the  American  consular 
agency,  where  we  were.  Here  they  desisted  in  dis- 
gust and  shame  at  having  allowed  him  to  escape,  and 
went  back  to  report  t(j  their  lord  that  the  Jew  dog  was 
dead.     CcrlainK-  the  i;ood\\  ill   had  not  brrn  wanting 


THE  JEWS   IN  MOROCCO.  323 

to  put  the  Caid's  threat  into  execution.  Nothing 
could  induce  the  young  Jew  to  leave  the  house  of  the 
consular  agency  for  days.  That  afternoon  Ben- 
azzouli  called  on  the  Bashaw  and  asked  that  the 
Moors  who  had  been  guilty  of  the  outrage  might  be 
punished.  His  request  was  refused,  and  I  believe 
Ben-azzouli  was  ushered  out  of  the  Bashaw's  palace 
with  scant  ceremony.  However,  as  besides  the 
British  Mission  there  were  several  Americans  in  Fez, 
the  Bashaw  saw  fit  in  a  few  days  to  notify  Ben- 
azzouli  that  he  had  reprimanded  the  Moors  for  their 
conduct,  and  that  he  would  see  that  his  protege  was 
no  further  molested. 

During  the  last  decade,  thanks  chiefly  to  the  vigi- 
lance of  several  European  ministers  in  Tangier  and 
the  agents  of  the  Anglo-Jewish  Association  through- 
out the  Empire,  the  number  of  outrages  to  which  the 
Jews  in  Morocco  have  been  subjected  has  greatly 
diminished.  The  cases  of  barbarous  cruelty,  some 
of  which  I  have  related  in  the  foregoing  pages,  that 
have  come  to  light  have  given  the  Moors  so  much 
bother  that  happily  an  opinion  is  growing  up  in 
official  circles  and  making  itself  manifest  throughout 
the  land,  that  Jew-baiting  is  not  worth  the  subsequent 
trouble  and  expense  it  almost  invariably  entails,  and 
as  the  neighbourhood  in  which  an  outrage  against  a 
Jew's  life  or  property  is  committed  is  directly  re- 
sponsible for  the  blood-money,  a  strong  feeling  has 
shown  itself,  at  least  near  the  coast  towns,  against  the 
commission  of  any  injury  to  Jews,  at  least  where  there 
is  the  slightest  chance  of  its  being  found  out.  The 
outrages  against  Jews  that   one  hears  of  most  often 

Y  2 


324  MOROCCO  AS  IT  IS. 

now  arc  notreall\-  the  evidences  of  racial  feeling  and 
religious  hatred,  though  both  certainly  do  still  exist 
to  a  very  large  extent  in  Morocco.  Last  summer, 
for  instance,  a  Jew  was  murdered  in  Wadnoon,  but 
it  should  be  remembered  that  all  travellers  in  this 
country  on  the  way  to  Timbuctoo  are  exposed,  from 
the  fanaticism  and  predatory  instincts  of  the  natives, 
to  a  very  similar  fate,  and  it  is  quite  possible  that 
this  Jew  was  killed  because  he  had  valuable  goods 
with  him  and  was  too  penurious  to  engage  a  proper 
escort  of  soldiers.  Philanthropic  Hebrews  in  this 
country  who  have  interested  themselves  in  the  des- 
tinies of  their  co-religionists  in  Morocco,  are  very  far 
from  taking  a  despairing  view  of  their  condition,  and 
indeed  any  fair-minded  person  who  makes  a  study 
of  the  methods  of  Moorish  Government,  and  sees  how 
backward  and  reactionary  the  tendencies  that  prevail 
in  the  Empire  now  are,  will  be  forced  to  confess  that 
the  treatment  of  the  Jews,  unfair  and  bigoted  as  it 
really  is,  taken  comparatively,  seems  almost  a  redeem- 
ing feature  in  the  governmental  decalogue  of  crime. 
Of  course  it  should  be  added  that  this  amelioration 
of  the  condition  of  the  Jew  is  not  owing  to  any 
spontaneous  outburst  of  humanity  and  brotherly  love 
on  the  part  of  the  Moors.  It  is  due  entirely  to  diplo- 
matic pressure  from  without,  to  which  the  Moors 
have  always  yielded  with  the  very  worst  grace  in 
the  world.  In  the  late  grand  Shercef  of  Wazzan  the 
Jews  have  lost  a  staunch  friend.  Though  Wazzan 
is  the  holiest  of  holy  cities  and  the  residents  very 
fanatical,  owing  to  the  broad-mindedness  and  the 
liumanity  of  the  late  Shercef  the  Jews  were  allowed 


THE  JEWS   IN  MOROCCO.  325 

to  reside  there,  and  were  not  compelled  to  huddle 
together  in  the  crowded  quarters  of  a  ghetto,  and 
were  otherwise  very  liberally  and  humanely  treated. 
All  litigation  among  themselves  the  Jews  are  per- 
mitted to  bring  before  their  own  tribunals,  which  are 
presided  over  by  the  Rabbis  of  their  synagogues — 
appointed  by  the  Moorish  Government.  Against 
these  tribunals  no  complaints  are  ever  made  by  the 
Jews.  Infliction  of  the  bastinado  upon  Jews  has  been 
abolished,  though  the  unfortunate  Moor,  who  has  no 
diplomatic  friends  outside  of  his  own  country,  is  still 
forced  to  "  eat  stick  "  for  the  most  trivial  causes. 

Owing  to  the  great  diplomatic  pressure  that  has 
been  brought  to  bear  on  the  Moorish  Government 
by  the  European  powers,  great  things  have  been 
accomplished  in  bettering  the  condition  of  the  Jews, 
though  they  have  still  very  legitimate  grievances 
against  the  Moors.  It  is,  however,  recognized  by 
distinguished  Hebrews  that  much  can  be  done  by 
the  Moghrebbin  Jews  themselves  towards  elevating 
their  position  by  a  general  average  of  better  behaviour, 
and  the  acquirement  of  better  education,  etc.,  etc. 
It  is  with  this  belief  that  the  efforts  of  the  Jewish 
societies  throughout  the  world  are  now,  at  least  as  far 
as  Morocco  is  concerned,  concentrated  in  effecting 
the  erection  of  Jewish  schools,  even  in  the  holy  cities 
themselves.  The  Jews  are  unanimously  against  the 
proposed  abolition  of  the /;'(?/i'^f' system.  They  recog- 
nize the  many  iniquities  which  have  grown  up  under 
it,  but  at  the  same  time  they  claim  it  to  be  a  necessary 
safeguard  against  the  barbarity  and  fanaticism  of  the 
Moors,  and  the  only  arrangement  by  which  the  lives. 


326  MOROCCO  AS   IT  IS. 

and  the  homes,  and  the  property  ot  civih'zed  people 
residing  in  Morocco  can  be  secured.  They  are 
working  unremittingly  against  its  abolition,  and  will 
continue  so  to  do  until  a  perfectly  satisfactory  substi- 
tute has  been  hit  upon. 

While  I  have  indicated  in  outline  at  least  the  great 
amelioration  of  the  condition  of  the  Jews  that  has 
taken  place  in  the  last  few  years,  I  do  not  for  a  mo- 
ment wish  to  be  understood  as  saying  that  their 
treatment  at  the  hands  of  the  Moors  of  the  present 
day  is  satisfactory  ;  far  from  it ;  and  the  grievances 
that  are  now  being  advanced  at  the  Shcrecfian  Court 
by  foreign  ministers,  and  by  the  interposition  of  JDro- 
mincnt  Hebrews  in  Europe,  are,  in  my  opinion,  well 
founded,  and  should  be  immediately  remedied.  It  is 
demanded  of  the  Sultan  and  the  Shereefian  Court 
that  the  edict  issued  by  the  late  Sultan,  after  the 
memorable  visit  of  Sir  Moses  Montcfiore,  be  enforced 
more  strictly.  It  is  further  asked  that  a  Jew  be 
admitted  to  equality  with  a  Moor  before  the  Sliraa, 
or  Civil  Court  ;  but  the  great  grievance  is  the  punish- 
ment of  the  Moor,  who  has  murdered  a  Jew,  by 
blood-money.  If  a  Moor  murders  a  true  believer 
the  family  of  the  murdered  man  have  a  right  to  his 
life,  and  very  rarely  fail  to  obtain  it,  unless  they 
choose  to  condone  the  offence,  and  surreptitiously 
accept  blood-money  from  the  murderer  or  his  family, 
liut  the  life  of  a  murderer  of  a  Jew  is  never  in  danger 
from  the  Moorish  law,  as,  of  course,  according  to  their 
creed  the  life  of  a  true  believer  is  not  to  be  comi)ared 
in  value  with  the  life  of  a  Jewish  dog.  .S(j  if  a  Jew 
becomes  obnoxious  to  a  Moor,  he  generally  has  him 


THE  JEWS  IN  MOROCCO,  32/ 

murdered,  If  any  fuss  is  made,  or  if  the  Jew  is 
protected  by  a  foreign  power,  or  has  friends  protected 
by  a  foreign  power,  the  investigator  of  the  murder 
generally  pays  about  ten  pounds  blood-money,  and 
the  whole  matter  is  hushed  up.  This  custom  of  blood- 
money  the  Jewish  societies  are  endeavouring  to  have 
abolished,  and,  if  properly  supported,  they  should  suc- 
ceed. They  also  desire  to  obtain  the  Sultan's  per- 
mission for  the  erection  of  more  Jewish  schools  in 
holy  cities.  This  has  been  conceded  in  Fez,  and  it  is 
hoped  that  permission  will  shortly  be  obtained  for 
the  foundation  of  a  school  in  the  city  of  Morocco, 
The  enlargement  of  the  mellaJis  is  another  demand 
that  should  be  granted.  It  is  absolutely  necessary 
for  the  improvement  of  the  health  and  morality  of 
the  Jews  that  they  be  allowed  to  live  under  proper 
sanitary  conditions,  and  not  be  compelled  to  live 
together  like  bees  in  a  hive,  10,000  often  in  a  single 
street,  where  500  could  only  reside  with  proper  regard 
for  morality,  cleanliness,  and  sanitary  laws.  In  par- 
ticular, the  inellaJi  of  Mogador  is  a  perfect  pigsty,  and 
a  hotbed  of  the  contagious  diseases  that  decimate 
the  Jews. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

SLAVERY  AND   PROTECTION. 

Domestic  slavery  of  a  mild  description — Slaves  generally  well 
cared  for — Secrecy  observed  in  the  traffic  when  Europeans 
are  in  the  town — Position  of  freed  slaves — Demand  for 
female  slaves — Protection  of  Natives  by  Foreign  Powers 
— "Irregular  protections" — Coriupt  Consuls — "  Selling  a 
Moor  " — The  establishment  of  mixed  tribunals. 

Negro  slavery  is  practised  in  Morocco,  but  certainly 
of  a  very  mild  character.  The  slaves  almost  without 
exception  are  well  treated,  and  would  not,  if  they 
could,  chanjTc  their  lot.  Emancipation  is  not  dreamed 
of  or  desired  by  those  who,  as  far  as  I  can  speak  from 
personal  observation,  toil  in  a  very  moderate  degree, 
and  arc  free  from  the  cares  inseparable  from  an  inde- 
pendent and  responsible  existence.  The  domestic 
slaves  in  the  Empire  number,  I  should  say,  about  a 
quarter  of  a  million. 

Since  i8So  all  European  Governments  have  for- 
bidden their  prottgi's  from  holding  or  dealing  in 
slaves,  a  prohibition  which  has  certainly  not  been 
strictly  observed  by  all  concerned.  In  the  seaport 
towns  the  public  .sale  of  slaves  has  been  in  a  measure 
discontinued.  That  i.s,  the  slave  owners  do  not  rush 
about  through  the  bazaars  with  the  slave  they  wish 


SLAVERY  AND   PROTECTION.  329 

to  sell,  crying  out  his  price,  and  indicating  his  or  her 
good  points,  as  they  formerly  did,  just  as  though  the 
slave  were  a  piece  of  calico  print  or  a  Rabat  carpet. 
They,  however,  simply  walk  about  through  the  mar- 
kets with  the  slave  they  desire  to  sell,  and  people 
understand  perfectly  well  that  they  wish  to  receive 
bids.  It  is  owing  in  a  great  measure  to  the  repre- 
sentations of  the  British  and  Foreign  Anti-Slavery 
Society,  and  the  ceaseless  vigilance  of  its  agents,  that 
in  1883  the  Sultan  was  induced  to  forbid  the  exposing 
of  slaves  for  sale  in  the  street.  While  this  decree 
has  been  by  no  means  generally  observed,  certainly  it 
has  resulted  in  a  great  improvement.  In  Fez  and 
in  the  city  of  Morocco,  and,  in  fact,  in  every  seaboard, 
as  well  as  inland,  there  is  a  slave  market.  In  the 
city  of  Morocco  there  are  two  or  three,  in  Fez  there 
is  one  large  one,  but  so  cautious  have  the  Moors 
become,  and  so  jealous  [are  they  of  the  observing 
stranger,  that  it  has  become  almost  an  impossibility 
to  witness,  without  assuming  a  disguise,  the  workings 
of  the  "  retail  "  slave  trade.  Whenever  I  entered  the 
slave  market  in  Fez  everything  stopped.  The  slaves 
who  were  being  sold  were  hustled  away  before  I 
could  make  any  note  of  their  appearance  and  manner, 
and  presto  !  the  slave  dealers  and  the  slave  owners 
who  had  been  so  boisterously  busy  trafficking  in 
human  flesh,  sat  around  in  a  circle  in  the  most  inno- 
cent manner  possible,  smoking  kief. 

The  prices  of  slaves  vary  from  5/.  to  1 5/.,  accord- 
ing to  age  and  sex.  In  Marakesh  the  slave  market 
is  held  three  times  a  week  about  sunset  in  an  open 
square  near  the  Kessaria. 


330  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

The  best  description  of  the  sale  of  slaves  that  I 
have  come  across  is  that  of  Dr.  Marcet,  a  French 
traveller,  who  visited  Morocco  in  1882.  I  believe 
the  very  same  thing  goes  on  now,  only  greater  pre- 
cautions are  observed,  especially  when  Europeans 
are  in  the  neighbourhood.     Dr.  ?*Iarcct  writes  :  — 

"  When  we  reached  the  market,  which  is  held  in  a 
large  square,  having  little  dens  or  bazaars  on  all  four 
sides,  and  a  covered  promenade  in  the  centre,  it  was 
crowded  with  "amateurs  "  and  spectators.  The  little 
bazaars  were  filled  with  people,  while  numbers  were 
seated  on  the  edge  of  the  promenade,  but  still  there 
was  ample  room  left  for  exhibiting  the  human  mer- 
chandise. 

"  The  auctioneers  were  busy,  each  one  leading  by 
the  hand  a  female  slave,  followed  by  two  or  three 
more,  and  were  making  the  round  of  the  market, 
soliciting  purchasers,  and  calling  out  the  prices  offered. 

"  A  squatted  Moor  makes  a  sign.  The  slave  he 
indicates  is  brought  to  him.  She  kneels  down  or 
stands  up  as  ordered  by  the  intended  purchaser,  who 
proceeds  to  handle  her  from  head  to  foot,  and  to 
examine  her  eyes,  mouth,  teeth,  and  nostrils,  in- 
quiring her  age  and  any  otiicr  particular  he  requires, 
after  which  he  makes  his  bid,  or  allows  her  to  pass 
on.  Tiic  poor  creature  readjusts  her  bodice,  and  the 
auctioneer  continues  his  tramp,  stopping  when  called 
to  submit  his  chattel  to  the  further  examination  of 
other  bidders. 

"  Ilcrc  is  a  girl  of  twelve,  with  a  pretty  face  and 
good  figure.  She  is  quoted  at  G/.,  and  is  eagerly 
sought  after. 


SLAVERY  AND   PROTECTION.  33  I 

"  Here  again  is  a  fine,  tall,  young  woman  ot 
eighteen  or  twenty,  a  promising  mulatress  with  ex- 
pressive features  and  handsome  figure.  A  costume 
of  red  and  white  striped  calico,  fitting  tight  below 
the  waist,  sets  off  her  splendid  form,  and  harmonizes 
agreeably  with  the  colour  of  her  skin.  The  seller 
seems  to  have  decked  her  out  expressly  to  enhance 
her  charms.  There  is  a  bid  ot  two  hundred  and 
twenty-five  francs,  but,  as  she  is  the  cream  of  the 
sale,  she  will  fetch  a  good  deal  more. 

"There  goes  a  child  of  six  or  seven.  She  appears 
to  be  well  built,  poor  thing !  but  she  is  as  yet  of  little 
value. 

"  Now  comes  a  young  woman  with  two  small 
children.  She  carries  one  of  them  on  her  arm,  and 
leads  the  other,  a  lovely  little  girl  of  three  years,  by 
the  hand.  A  small  coin  hangs  from  a  plaited  lock 
of  the  little  one's  hair.  The  poor  mother  moves 
along  like  a  lifeless  object,  incapable  of  any  effort  or 
will,  her  face  wearing  an  expression  of  deep  sadness 
and  melancholy.  She  meekly  obeys  the  auctioneer, 
who  leads  her  about  and  exhibits  her.  Will  the  lot 
be  sold  together,  or  will  the  little  girl  be  taken  from 
her  mother .-'  There — they  are  knocked  down  to- 
gether for  4/.,  the  children  being  an  objection  ! 

"  In  like  manner,  some  thirty  more  of  these  poor 
creatures  are  led  round,  exhibited,  bargained  for,  and 
subjected  without  pity  to  the  most  degrading  exa- 
mination of  any  one  who  pleases. 

"Amongst  all  this  human  merchandise,  not  one 
male  !  They  are  all  females  of  varied  degrees  of 
colour.     One   alone    is    white,   she    is    clad  like  the 


332  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

women  of  the  country,  and  hides  her  face  under  her 
woollen  'haick,'  uncovering  only  when  she  is  being 
examined. 

"  The  question  arises,  How  comes  she  to  be  there, 
and  why  and  wherefore  is  she  a  slave  ?  Once  in 
that  position,  there  is  no  escape  from  it.  All  follow 
the  auctioneer  barefoot  or  wearing  coarse  slippers, 
apparently  indifferent  to  what  is  going  on,  scarcely 
ever  lifting  their  heads  to  look  around  them,  yet  we 
can  imagine  the  thoughts,  the  fears,  the  hopes,  and 
the  anxiety  that  distract  their  brains. 

"  The  majority  of  the  youngest  are  reserved,  as  is 
notorious,  for  the  libertine  pleasures  of  a  corrupt 
people.  At  the  age  of  fourteen  or  fifteen,  the  sons 
of  good  families  possess  their  slaves.  Their  parents 
present  them  with  one  for  their  amusement  at  an 
age  when  we  in  Europe  give  our  children  a  pony  for 
exercise.  Here  it  is  a  question  of  custom  and  educa- 
tion. 

"  This  traffic  in  human  flesh,  at  the  very  door  of 
Europe,  is  monstrous.  The  spectacle  is  heartrending, 
and  there  can  be  no  question  that  mcral  corruption 
alone  keeps  it  alive.  For  this  reason,  as  already 
said,  there  are  only  females  in  the  market,  which  in 
bitter  mockery  is  called  '  Sok-el  Abed,'  the  market 
of  the  gazelles." 

The  number  of  slaves  in  Morocco  is  not  rapidly 
increasing.  The  slaves  here,  as  in  other  countries, 
cat  their  owners  out  of  house  and  home  and  in  return 
do  very  little  work.  Many  Moors,  when  they  come 
to  die,  manumit  their  slaves,  an  action  which  is  highly 
recommended    by    the     Koran.      These    freed    men 


SLAVERY  AND  PROTECTION.  333 

mingle  with  the  population,  marry  and  intermarry 
with  the  Moors,  Arabs  and  Berbers,  producing  the 
numerous   negroid  types  that  astonish  the  traveller 
in   Morocco.     They  are  by  no  means  looked  down 
upon  owing  to  their  previous  condition  of  servitude 
or  because  of  their  colour.     The  mother  of  the  pre- 
sent Sultan  was  a  negress,  the   mother  of  the  late 
Grand  Shereef  of  Wazzan  was   a  Houssa   mulatto. 
The  demand  for  slaves  that  still   exists,  principally 
for  female  slaves  to  replenish  the  harems,  is  supplied 
by  the  great  caravan   merchants   who   make  annual 
journeys  from   Tendoof,  a  place   in    South-Western 
Morocco  on  the  border  of  the  great  desert,  to  Tim- 
buctoo  and   return.     The  Akahah  or  great  caravan 
leaves  there  in  October,  and  consists  of  as   many  as 
15,000  camels.     Only  about  one-third  of  these  camels 
are  loaded,  principally  with  merchandise  from  Man- 
chester and  cheap  German  cloths.     The  other  camels 
are  reserved  to  load  salt  at  Tandeng,  an  oasis  in  the 
centre  of  the    great    western   desert,  with  excellent 
water  and  long  beds  of  salt  from  six  to  eight  feet 
thick  and  from   twenty  to  thirty  yards  in  circum- 
ference.    The  salt  is  taken   to  Timbuctoo  and  sold 
at  enormous  profits  or  exchanged  for  slaves.     It  is  a 
common  practice  in  purchasing  a  slave  in  Timbuctoo 
to  make  him  stand  on  one  of  these  cakes,  and  to  give 
in  exchange  for  him  as  much  salt  as  the  prints  of 
his  feet  cover.     Having  transacted  all  their  business, 
the  merchants   return  to    Ilirgh    in   the  province  of 
Sidi  Hammed-ou-Moussa  in  the  Sus  country,  where 
in    March  and    September  the    great  Avioghccr  or 
semi-annual  fair  is  held. 


334  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

The  great  caravan  brings  back  generally  each  year 
some  3000  or  4000  slaves^  upon  whom  the  Sultan 
lev^ics  a  tax  of  ten  per  cent.  This  is  the  theory. 
The  practice  is  that  his  officers  take  from  the  mer- 
chants any  slaves  whom  they  may  desire  to  possess, 
and  levy  a  tax  of  ten  per  cent,  upon  the  proceeds 
of  the  sales  of  the  remainder.  Great  pressure  has 
at  various  times  been  brought  to  bear  on  the  Sultan 
in  the  hope  of  inducing  him  to  prohibit  slavery  and 
the  further  introduction  of  slaves  from  Timbuctoo. 

I  would  welcome  as  warmly  as  anyone  the  reform, 
if  not  the  total  abolition,  of  the  iniquitous  institution, 
but  it  has  always  struck  me  as  rather  absurd  to  ask 
the  Sultan  to  abolish  an  institution  which  is  regarded 
in  his  country  and  by  his  people  as  quite  as  worthy 
and  commendable  as  with  us  the  holy  state  of  matri- 
mony, and  it  has  appeared  to  me  that  if  the  Sultan 
were  less  often  asked  to  do  those  things  which  it  is 
manifestly  impossible  for  him  to  do,  he  might  more 
often  be  willing  to  initiate  those  improvements  which 
lie  well  wiliiin  his  power. 

The  lawlessness  of  the  country,  the  oppression  of 
the  Sultan  and  his  officers,  and  the  fact  that  only 
by  courtesy  can  Morocco  be  considered  a  civilized 
country,  has  given  rise  to  the  system  of  proiigcs,  so 
absolutely  necessary  in  a  country  misgoverned  like 
Morocco.  It  has  prevented  much  cruelty,  shielded 
thousands  of  innocent  people  from  oppression,  and 
made  commerce  with  Morocco  possible  during  the 
last  hundred  years.  (Jf  course  the  provisions  of  the 
protection  system  have  been  abused.  The  most 
flagrant  instances  of  this  have  come  within   my  per- 


SLAVERY  AND   PROTECTION.  335 

sonal  knowledge,  but  after  everything  has  been  said, 
and  after  passing  in  review  the  evidence  for  and 
against  this  system,  I  for  one  would  be  very  sorry  to 
have  it  removed.  The  object  of  the  treaties  under 
which  the  foreign  legations  and  consulates  were 
authorized  to  grant  papers  of  protection  to  native 
Jews  and  Moors,  w^ho  were  in  any  way  connected 
with  foreigners  settled  in  Morocco,  was  the  praise- 
worthy one  of  saving  them  from  the  tyranny  and  the 
oppression  of  the  Moorish  authorities,  thereby  safe- 
guarding the  interests  of  their  foreign  partners  and 
employers.  In  the  course  of  time,  however,  the  sys- 
tem has  become  a  source  of  income  for  dishonest  and 
impecunious  consuls,  who  sell  protection  papers  to 
wealthy  Jews  and  wealthy  Moors  who  are  not  entitled 
to  them,  thus  furnishing  the  Sultan  with  strong  ground 
for  serious  complaint  and  remonstrance  against  the 
whole  system  of  protection.  The  Jew  or  Moor  pro- 
tected by  the  representative  of  a  foreign  power,  doing 
business  in  some  small  Moorish  town,  assumes  the 
bearing  of  a  Persian  satrap.  The  Moorish  Governor, 
for  reasons  of  interest,  becomes  his  most  obedient  ser- 
vant. He  will  throw  into  prison  or  have  bastinadoed 
anybody  whom  tht  protege  may  desire  should  be  im- 
prisoned. If  anyone  commits  a  crime  or  gets  into 
trouble,  he  rushes  immediately  to  the  protege  and 
asks  for  his  protection,  for  in  practice,  if  not  by 
express  provision  of  treaty,  it  would  seem  that  the 
protege  has  the  right  to  protect  in  his  turn  almost  as 
many  people  as  he  likes.  So  the  murderer,  the 
fraudulent  bankrupt,  and  the  embezzler  are  all 
covered  by   a   treaty  which  was  intended   merely  to 


33^  MOROCCO  AS   IT  IS. 

protect  the  servants  of  Christians  in  IMorocco  from 
the  ignorance  and  fanatical  hatred  of  the  Moors,  in- 
curred by  them  in  assisting  and  in  taking  service 
with  Christians,  Some  of  the  Moors  are  protected 
by  foreign  consuls  because  they  pay  heavily  for  it  ; 
others  because  themselves  extremely  useful  to  their 
foreign  protectors.  In  this  category  I  believe  should 
be  placed  Sid  Boobeker,  the  English  agent  at  the 
Moorish  Court.  Boobeker  is  worth  half  a  million 
pounds  sterling  if  he  is  worth  a  penny.  The  greater 
portion  of  this  wealth  has  been  gained  by  him  in 
slave-trading  and  in  another  traffic  quite  as  nefarious. 
Owing  to  his  official  connection  with  the  British 
legation  in  IMorocco,  which  has  now  continued  for 
some  twenty  years,  Boobeker  has  always  been  over 
and  above  the  law  of  the  land  of  which  he  is  a  native- 
born  subject.  Boobeker  is  a  spy  upon  his  own 
people,  and  instead  of  being  hung  for  his  want  of 
patriotism,  owing  to  the  British  protection  which  he 
enjoys,  he  occupies  a  position  in  which  he  can  set 
the  law  of  his  land  at  defiance.  This  interesting 
type  was  certainly  the  evil  genius  of  the  last  British 
Mission  to  Fez.  The  British  "  Bashador "  was 
closeted  morning,  noon  and  night  with  him.  He  was 
the  confidential  messenger  between  the  Court  and 
the  Mission.  One  of  the  main  clauses  of  the  treaty 
which  Sir  Charles  Euan-Smith  hoped  to  induce  the 
Sultan  to  sign  was  one  for  the  limitation  of  the 
slave  trade.  The  Sultan  and  the  Grand  Vizier  did 
not  fail  to  notice  the  humour  of  the  situation,  and 
gently  hinted  to  Sir  Charles  that  if  the  paragraph  he 
pushed  so  zealously  became  the  law  of  the  land,  the 


SLAVERY  AND   PROTECTION.  337 

trade  of  his  ally  and   friend,  Sid  Boobeker,  would  be 
very  much  hampered. 

A  great  hue  and  cry  has  been  raised  also  against 
"irregular  protections,"  or  the  granting  of  papers  of 
protection  to  those  who  do  not  strictly  come  under 
the  law,  who  are  only  technically  employed  by  Euro- 
peans. At  the  same  time  I  know  of  many  instances 
where  the  granting  of  these  "  irregular  protections  " 
has  saved  lives  and  prevented  some  brutal  Bashaw 
from  venting  some  petty  personal  spite  upon  any 
unoffending  individual.  Of  course  there  are  some 
individuals  "  irregularly  protected,"  who  should  not 
be,  but  the  way  to  remedy  this  is  to  improve  the  per- 
so7ie/o{the  legations  and  consulates  in  Morocco,  and 
not  to  abolish  the  protection  system.  But  the  most 
revolting  of  the  many  disgraceful  practices  arising 
from  the  traffic  in  irregular  protections  is  that  known 
as  "  selling  a  Moor."  The  native  Moor,  knowing  that 
he  has  incurred  the  enmity  of  the  Governor  or  ex- 
cited the  displeasure  of  one  of  the  Sultan's  officers, 
and  knowing  that  his  goods  and  chattels  are  about  to 
be  seized  and  confiscated,  and  he  himself  thrown 
into  prison,  rushes  to  the  nearest  consulate  or  vice- 
consulate,  and  asks  that  protection  be  granted  him. 
Many  of  these  consular  officers  grant  this  protection 
at  a  price  varying  from  500/.  to  1000/.,  so  the  native 
escapes  the  wrath  and  the  oppression  of  his  enemy, 
or,  as  it  not  seldom  occurs,  the  righteous  punishment 
for  crimes  he  has  committed.  But  if  he  be  very 
wealthy,  or  if  the  Moorish  Governor  or  Caid  who  is 
pursuing  him  be  very  revengeful,  he  sends  an  agent 
to  the  vice-consul  in  question,  and  asks  for  what  price 

z 


338  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

he  will  remove  his  protection  from  the  native.  I 
know  two  instances  in  which  the  officer  expressed  his 
wilHngness  to  enter  upon  such  a  disgraceful  transac- 
tion for  500/.,  and  the  protection  was  immediately 
removed  and  the  Moor  thrown  into  prison  and  basti- 
nadoed, whilst  the  corrupt  vice-consul  had  pocketed  a 
thousand  pounds  by  the  two  transactions.  As  the  pay 
of  vice-consuls  along  the  coast  varies  from  80/  to  150/. 
a  year,  it  will  be  understood  that  their  temptation  is 
great.  It  is  a  disgrace  that  such  abuses  should  go  on 
under  the  flags  of  European  powers,  but  it  would  be 
still  more  disgraceful  for  us  to  turn  over  the  Jews  and 
the  Moors  at  present  protected  to  the  tender  mercies 
of  the  Moorish  Bashaws,  until  the  whole  civil  and 
law  administration  of  the  country  has  undergone  a 
thorough  change.  It  seems  to  me  that  the  Sherecfian 
Government  must  be  thoroughly  reformed  before 
any  improvement  can  take  place  in  the  country,  or 
any  confidence  shown  by  us  in  the  justice  and 
equity  of  its  tribunals.  The  Aborigines  Protection 
Society  and  other  philanthropic  bodies  advocate,  I 
believe,  the  establishment  of  international  tribunals 
in  Morocco,  as  the  only  effectual  way  by  which  the 
question  can  be  solved,  an  institution,  of  course,  that 
would  be  open  to  Christians,  Jews,  and  Moors  alike. 
Many  believe  that  this  is  the  only  remedy  for  the 
evil  which  jjrcsses  so  heavily  on  Morocco.  At  the 
same  time,  in  the  negotiations  for  the  institution  of 
these  mixed  tribunaLs,  the  greatest  care  should  be 
observed  by  the  European  representatives  lest  conces- 
sions be  made  to  the  Moors  and  none  be  received 
from  their  Government  in  return. 


APPENDIX. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  Members  of  Sir 
Charles  Euan-Smith's  Special  Mission  to  the  Court 
of  Morocco  :— 

Head  of  Mission. 
Colonel  Sir    Charles    B.  Euan-Smith,  K.C.B.,    C.S.I.,    Her 
Britannic  Majesty's  Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister  Pleni- 
potentiary. 

Legation  Staff. 
G.  de  Vismes  de  Ponthieu,  Esq. 

G.  H.  Fernan,  Esq.,  7  t  .. 

_  '       n  J  L  Interpreters. 

E.  Carlton,  Esq.,        J 

Military  Staff. 

Colonel  Hallam  Parr,  C.M.G.,  C.B.,  A.D.C.  Chief  of  Staff. 

Surgeon-Captain  Macpherson. 

Lieutenant  Kirkpatrick,  R.E. 

Lieutenant  G.  Wilson,  71st  Highlanders,  A.D.C. 

Officer  specially  deputed  by  the  Sultan  in  charge  of  the  Mission, 
Kaid  Harry  Maclean. 

Ministcf^s  Family. 
Lady  Euan-Smith, 
Miss  Hilda  Euan-Smith, 
Miss  Kerr i son. 
Miss  Bainbridge, 
Z  2 


340  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

Doctor  Guillemardt,  of  Cambridge  University,  the 
Hon.  Douglas  Cairns,  and  Major  Horatio  Mends, 
the  King's  Royal  Rifles,  accompanied  the  Mission  to 
Fez  in  unofficial  capacities. 

The  following  is  an  exact  copy  of  the  treaty  which, 
despite  his  most  solemn  assurances  to  the  contrary, 
the  Sultan  finally  refused  to  sign. 

Convention  oj  Commerce  ayui  Navigation  between  Her  Majesty 
and  the  Sultan  of  Morocco^  signed  at  Fes. 

Her  Majesty  the  Queen  of  the  United  Kingdom  of  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland,  and  His  Majesty  the  Sultan  of  Morocco 
and  Fez,  being  desirous  to  extend  and  improve  the  relations  of 
commerce  and  navigation  which  exist  between  their  respective 
dominions  and  subjects,  have  resolved  to  conclude  a  special 
Convention  for  that  purpose,  and  have  named  as  their  Pleni- 
potentiaries, that  is  to  say  : — 

Her  Majesty  the  Queen  of  the  United  Kingdom  of  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland,  Colonel  .Sir  Charles  Bean  Euan-Smith, 
Knight  Commander  of  the  Most  Honourable  Order  of  the  Bath, 
Companion  of  the  Most  Exalted  Order  of  the  Star  of  India, 
Her  Majesty's  Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister  Plenipo- 
tentiary at  the  Court  of  His  Majesty  the  Sultan  of  Morocco 
and  Fez  ; 

And  His  Majesty  the  Sultan  of  Morroco  and  Fez,  the  Fekih 
Cid  Emfadl  Gharnit,  Vizier  for  Foreign  Affairs  ; 

Who,  after  having  communicated  to  each  other  their  respec- 
tive full  powers,  have  agreed  upon  and  concluded  the  following 
Articles  : — 

Article  I. 

There  shall  be  reciprocal  freedom  of  commerce  between 
the  British  dominions  and  the  dominions  of  the  Sultan  of 
Morocco. 

The  subjects  of  Her  Britannic  Majesty  may  reside  and  trade 
in  all  the  ports  and  other  parts  of  the  territories  of  the  Sultan 


APPENDIX.  34 1 

of  Morocco  where  his  authority  is  established,  in  the  same  way 
as  any  other  foreign  subjects  are  or  shall  be  permitted. 

They  shall  enjoy  full  protection  for  their  persons  and  pro- 
perties, as  specified  in  Article  IV  of  the  General  Treaty  ;  they 
shall  be  allowed  to  buy  from,  and  sell  to,  whom  they  like,  all 
articles  whatsoever,  either  by  wholesale  or  retail,  at  all  places 
in  the  Moorish  dominions,  without  being  restrained  or  pre- 
judiced by  any  monopoly,  contract,  or  exclusive  privilege  of 
purchase  or  sale  whatever,  except  the  articles  enumerated  in 
Article  II  of  the  present  Convention,  and  they  shall,  moreover, 
enjoy  all  other  rights  and  privileges  which  hereafter  may  be 
granted  to  any  other  foreigners,  subjects,  or  citizens  of  the  most 
favoured  nation. 

The  subjects  of  the  Sultan  of  Morocco  shall,  in  return,  enjoy 
in  the  dominions  of  Her  Britannic  Majesty  the  same  protection 
and  privileges  which  are  or  may  be  enjoyed  by  the  subjects  or 
citizens  of  the  most  favoured  nation. 

Article  II. 

The  Sultan  of  ]\Iorocco  engages  that  there  shall  be  in  his 
dominions  no  monopolies  or  prohibitions  of  imported  or 
exported  goods,  except  tobacco,  and  all  like  kinds  of  herb  used 
for  smoking,  opium,  powder,  lead,  sulphur,  saltpetre,  ammuni- 
tion of  war  and  arms  of  all  kinds  ;  and  further,  that  there  shall 
be  no  monopolies  of  agricultural  produce,  or  of  any  other  article 
whatsoever  in  the  dominions  of  the  Sultan. 

Article  III. 

Merchandise  or  goods,  except  the  articles  enumerated  in 
Article  II.,  imported  by  British  subjects,  shall  not  be  prohibited 
in  the  territories  of  the  Sultan  of  Morocco,  nor  be  subject  to 
higher  duties  than  are  paid  on  the  same  kind  of  goods  by 
Moorish  subjects,  or  by  the  subjects  of  the  most  favoured 
nation. 

The  place  of  origin  of  such  merchandise  and  goods,  as 
also  the  nationality  of  the  ships  conveying  them,  shall  not, 
under  any  circumstances,  be  the  cause  of  any  difference  of  treat- 
ment. 


342  MOROCCO  AS   IT  IS. 

Article  IV. 

In  consideration  of  the  favourable  terms  upon  which  the 
produce  of  Morocco  is  admitted  into  the  tcrritdries  of  Her 
Britannic  Majesty,  and  with  a  view  to  the  extension  of  com- 
mercial intercourse  between  Great  Britain  and  Morocco,  for 
their  mutual  advantage,  His  Majesty  the  Sultan  of  Morocco 
hereby  agrees  that  the  duties  to  be  levied  on  all  articles 
imported  into  the  territories  of  His  Majesty  by  British  subjects 
(including  cloth  and  all  cotton  and  linen  goods)  shall  not 
exceed  lo  per  cent,  ad  valorcDi. 

The  duty  on  silk  textiles,  whether  of  pure  or  mixed  materials, 
on  woollen  textiles  except  cloth,  on  gold  and  silver  jewellery, 
pearls,  real  and  imitation,  precious  stones  and  gold  thread,  on 
wines  and  liqueurs,  cheese,  pates  alimcntaircs,  and  coals,  shall 
not  exceed  5  per  cent,  ad  valorem. 

All  imported  goods  shall  be  estimated  according  to  their 
wholesale  cash  value  in  reals  vellon  at  the  port  of  their  dis- 
embarkation. 

Articlk  v. 
All  articles  and  produce  exported  from  Morocco  and  shipped 
by  British  subjects  to  any  country  whatsoever  shall  be  subject 
to  no  less  favourable  terms,  wlien  exported,  than  those  imposed 
on  Moorish  subjects  and  on  the  subjects  of  the  most  favoured 
nation,  except  the  articles  enumerated  in  Article  II. 

Article  VI. 

The  duties  to  be  levied  on  all  articles  and  produce  exported 
from  the  territories  of  His  Majesty  by  British  subjects  shall 
not  cxreed  in  amount  the  duties  marked  in  the  following 
Tariff:— 

■J  lie  new  Tariff  reduces  the  export  duty  on  all  grain  except 
wheat  .ind  barley  40  per  cent.  There  are  also  considerable 
reductions  in  the  expt-rt  dniy  on  seeds,  oil,  wool,  fowls,  eggs, 
hemp  and  flax,  salt  fish,  beef,  and  other  articles,  'ihe  new 
Tariff  also  allows,  at  a  reasonable  duty,  the  exportation  or 
manv  articles  not  hitlierto  allowed,  such  as  bones,  aloes  fibre 


APPENDIX.  343 

all  mineral  ores  except  lead,  bark,  cork,  mineral,  and  sea-salt 
and  bran. 

« 

Article  VII. 

No  tax,  toll,  duty,  or  charge  whatsoever,  beside  the  export 
duty  hereinbefore  mentioned,  shall  be  imposed  or  demanded  by 
any  person  whatsoever,  in  any  part  of  the  dominions  of  Morocco, 
upon,  or  in  respect  of,  any  goods  or  produce  whatsoever  which 
may  have  been  purchased  for  exportation  by  any  British  sub- 
ject ;  but  the  said  goods  or  produce  shall  be  conveyed  from  any 
place  in  Morocco  to,  and  embarked  from,  any  port  therein 
hitherto  opened  or  that  may  hereafter  be  opened  to  foreign  trade 
and  commerce,  free  from  all  other  taxes  or  duties.  No  officer  or 
subject  of  the  Sultan  shall  offer  any  impediment  to,  or  lay  any 
restriction  on  the  conveyance  or  embarkation  of  such  goods  or 
produce,  or  on  any  pretext  receive  any  money  or  gift  in  respect 
or  on  account  of  such  goods  ;  and  should  any  officer  or  subject 
act  contrary  to  such  stipulation,  the  Sultan  shall  immediately 
punish  with  severity  the  Governor,  officer,  or  other  subject  who 
shall  have  been  guilty  of  such  misconduct,  and  compensate 
British  subjects  for  all  injuries  or  losses  which  they  may  duly 
prove  themselves  to  have  suffered  thereby. 

Article  VIII. 

No  anchorage,  tonnage,  pilotage,  or  other  duty  or  charge  shall 
be  levied  on  -British  vessels,  or  on  goods  imported  or  exported 
in  them,  at  Moorish  ports  beyond  what  is,  or  may  be,  levied  on 
national  vessels,  or  on  the  like  goods  imported  or  exported  in 
them  at  Moorish  ports  ;  they  shall  not,  however,  exceed  in 
amount  the  rates  of  the  following  scale,  viz. : — 

I .  Tariff  of  A  nchoragc  Dues. 

Reals  vellon 

Upon  vessels  not  measuring  more  than  50  tons      .     20 

„  measuring  from  50  to  100  tons  .     40 

,  „  100  to  150  tons         .     60 

„  „  150  tons  upwards     .     80 


344  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

1.   Tiu-iff  of  Pilotage  Dues. 

The  rate  of  pilotage  at  the  ports  of  Rabat  and  Laraiche  : 

British  vessels  shall  pay  So  cents  of  real  vellon  per  ton  on 
entry  and  So  cents  of  real  vellon  per  ton  on  departure. 

The  rate  of  pilotage  at  all  other  ports  : 

British  vessels  shall  pay  40  cents  of  real  vellon  per  ton  on 
entry  and  40  cents  of  real  vellon  per  ton  on  departure  ;  that  is, 
if  a  pilot  is  employed  on  entry  or  departure. 

3.   Tariff  of  Port  Dues. 

British  vessels  shall  pay  equal  duties  at  all  Moorish  ports. 
'I'hey  shall  pay  not  more  than  8  reals  vellon  for  every  vessel, 
great  or  small. 

Ko  charge  for  anchorage  or  port  dues  shall  be  levied  on 
account  of  British  men-of-war  or  British  vessels  which  may 
enter  the  ports  of  Morocco  for  the  purpose  of  seeking  shelter 
from  the  weather,  and  which  do  not  embark  or  discharge  cargo 
or  passengers,  nor  shall  any  charge  for  anchorage  or  port  dues 
be  levied  upon  fishing-vessels. 

And,  in  like  manner,  no  anchorage,  tonnage,  pilotage,  or  other 
duty  or  charge  shall  be  levied  in  the  British  dominions  on 
Moorish  vessels,  or  on  goods  imported  or  exported  in  Moorish 
vessels,  beyond  what  is  or  may  be  levied  on  national  vessels. 

Article  IX. 

Should  a  British  subject,  or  his  agent,  have  imported  goods 
into  any  Moorish  port,  and  have  paid  the  Customs  duty  upon 
them,  and  afterwards  desire  to  convey  them  by  sea  to  another 
Moorish  port,  he  is  at  liberty  to  do  so,  and  no  further  duty  shall 
be  levied  on  such  goods,  but  the  goods  must  be  acc()mi)anicd  by 
a  certificate  from  llie  Administrators  of  Customs  at  the  port  from 
which  they  are  shipped,  stating  that  they  have  paid  the  duty. 
Wheat,  barley,  and  all  grain  and  cereals  of  all  kinds  which  are 
the  produce  of  Morocco,  also  all  articles  of  every  description  the 
exportation  of  which  is  permiltetl  by  tiic  present 'Ireaty,  may  be 
conveyed  by  sea  from  one  port  to  aiKUher,  and  shall  pay  or 
deposit  the  duties  fixed  in  the  present  Tariff.  .Should,  in  the 
future,  the  exportation   of  wheat   and  bailey  be   iHoliibitcd,  a 


APPENDIX.  345 

deposit  shall  be  made  of  30  reals  vellon  for  wheat  and  of  12  reals 
vellon  for  barley  per  strike  fanega.  A  receipt  for  the  amount  so 
deposited  shall  be  given  by  the  Customs  officers  at  the  port  of 
shipment,  and  on  the  disembarkation  of  the  said  articles  or 
grain  at  any  port  in  Morocco,  a  note  of  their  disembarkation 
and  of  their  amount  shall  be  made  on  the  original  receipt  by  the 
Customs  officers  at  the  port  of  disembarkation,  and  on  the  pre- 
sentation of  the  said  noted  receipt  at  the  port  where  the  grain 
or  the  articles  were  shipped,  within  three  months  of  the  date  of 
shipment,  the  duties  or  deposits  originally  paid  by  the  shipper 
shall  be  returned  to  him  without  deduction.  Provided  always 
that,  should  the  quantity  of  grain  or  other  articles  disembarked 
at  the  second  port  not  tally  with  that  which  was  originally 
shipped,  after  the  usual  deductions  are  made  for  wear  and  tear 
on  the  voyage,  no  return  of  duty  or  deposit  shall  be  made  for 
the  amount  of  grain  or  other  articles  thus  found  wanting. 

Article  X. 

Should  the  Sultan,  in  accordance  with  the  promise  of  His 
Majesty,  give  orders  for  constructing  quays  or  breakwaters  at 
any  of  the  Moorish  ports,  or  lighthouses  and  other  improvements 
for  the  benefit  of  navigation,  and  should  His  Majesty  think  fit 
to  impose  any  due  on  this  account,  it  shall  be  done  by  the 
mutual  agreement  of  the  Moorish  Government  and  the  foreign 
Representatives. 

This  due  shall  not  exceed  what  may  be  necessary  to  defray 
the  cost  of  such  improvement,  and  shall  not  be  applied  to  any 
other  purpose. 

Article  XI. 
All  vessels  which,  according  to  British  law,  are  to  be  deemed 
British  vessels,  and  all  vessels  which,  according  to  the  law  of 
Morocco,  are  to  be  deemed  Maroquine  vessels,  shall,  for  the 
purposes  of  this  Treaty,  be  respectively  deemed  British  or 
Maroquine  vessels. 

Article  XII. 

The  subjects  of  Her  Britannic  Majesty  shall  be  free  to  manage 
their  own  affairs  themselves,  or  to  commit  those  affairs  to  the 


34^  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

mana>;emcnt  of  any  persons  whom  they  may  appoint  as  their 
broker,  factor,  or  agent ;  nor  shall  such  British  subjects  be 
restrained  in  their  choice  of  persons  to  act  in  such  capacities, 
nor  shall  they  be  called  upon  to  pay  any  salary  or  remuneration 
to  any  person  whom  they  shall  not  choose  to  employ  as  brokers 
or  agents  for  buying  and  selling. 

Absolute  freedom  shall  be  given  to  them  in  their  commercial 
transactions,  and  no  interference  on  the  part  of  the  Sultan's 
officers  shall  be  permitted. 

Article  XIII. 

The  purchase  of  house  and  landed  property  by  British  sub- 
jects in  all  parts  of  Morocco  shall,  for  the  present,  be  regulated 
by  the  Treaty  stipulations  which  are  already  in  force. 

All  subjects  of  Her  Britannic  Majesty  shall  have  the  un- 
restricted right  to  rebuild,  repair,  enlarge,  or  otherwise  change 
any  houses  or  stores  which  are  their  legal  property,  or  which 
have  been  leased  to  them  for  a  term  of  years.  They  shall  also 
have  the  unrestricted  right  to  build  houses,  stores,  or  other 
buildings  on  land  belonging  to  them  or  rented  by  them  for  that 
special  purpose. 

No  hindrance  or  obstruction  ot  any  kind  shall  be  placed  by 
the  Moorish  authorities  in  the  way  of  their  so  doing.  British 
subjects  shall  not,  however,  be  allowed  to  encroach  on  or  inter- 
fere with  existing  Mosque  buildings,  cemeteries,  or  other  sacred 
places. 

Artici.k  XI\'. 

If  a  British  subject  be  delected  in  smuggling,  the  goods  shall 
be  confiscated  to  tlic  .Sultan  by  order  of  the  British  Minister  or 
Ilrilish  Consul  at  the  place,  and  the  person  guilty  of  the  offence 
shall  be  fmcd  in  an  amount  not  exceeding  treble  the  amount  of 
duties  leviable  on  the  goods  seized,  or,  in  case  of  goods  not  ad- 
mitted to  importation,  treble  the  value  of  the  goods  at  the 
cuncnl  price  of  tlie  day  in  the  |)lace  where  the  seizure  was 
effected;  and  failing  payment  of  such  fines,  such  British  subject 
shall  be  imprisoned,  according  to  his  offence,  for  a  term  not 
exceeding  one  year. 


APPENDIX.  347 

Article  XV. 

British  trade-marks  shall  be  scrupulously  respected,  and  it  is 
hereby  agreed  that,  should  any  Moorish  subject  imitate,  or  cause 
to  be  imitated,  any  British  trade-marks  on  goods  manufactured 
in  Morocco,  or  elsewhere,  for  the  purpose  of  selling  such  goods 
under  false  pretences,  these  goods  shall  be  confiscated  by  the 
Moorish  Government,  and  the  offender  punished  according  to 
the  gravity  of  the  offence. 

Article  XVI. 

British  subjects  shall  have  the  right  of  fishing  for  and  taking 
fish  on  the  coast  of  Morocco. 

British  subjects  shall  also  have  the  right  of  fishing  for  coral 
along  the  shores  of  Morocco,  but  they  shall  not  communicate 
with  the  shore,  except  at  the  seaports. 

The  masters  of  vessels  who  desire  to  fish  coral  shall  apply 
through  the  British  Representative  at  Tangier  to  the  Moorish 
Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs,  who  shall  issue  a  written  authority, 
to  be  delivered  to  the  applicant  on  the  payment  of  150  dollars 
annually  for  each  vessel. 

British  subjects  fishing  coral  without  such  authority  shall  be 
fined  according  to  the  nature  of  the  offence. 

Article  XVI 1. 

All  differences,  disputes,  or  other  causes  of  litigation  arising 
between  Moorish  and  British  subjects  regarding  mercantile 
accounts  or  debts,  where  the  evidence  does  not  consist  of  notarial 
documents  drawn  up  according  to  the  Mahommedan  law,  shall 
be  adjusted  in  the  following  manner  : — The  Naib  of  the  Sultan, 
or  Governor  of  the  town,  and  the  British  Consular  officer,  shall 
select  each  an  equal  number  of  persons,  who,  after  taking  cog- 
nizance of  the  written  and  oral  evidence  produced  by  both 
parties,  shall  adjudicate  thereupon.  Should  the  persons  thus 
selected  differ,  then  the  Naib  of  the  Sultan,  or  Governor  of  the 
town,  and  Consular  officer,  shall  select  an  Umpire,  a  subject  of 
another  foreign  Power,  whose  award  shall  be  final.  The 
responsible  official  of  the  British  or  Moorish  Government  shnll 


348  MOROCCO   AS   IT  IS. 

take  immediate  steps  to  enforce  and  give  effect  to  the  decision 
so  arrived  at. 

The  persons  selected  as  Arbitrators  by  the  Governor  and 
Consular  officer  shall  not  be  relatives  of  the  litigants,  or  have 
any  interest  in  the  question  at  issue. 

Article  XVIII. 

The  whole  of  the  present  Convention  shall  be  applicable  to 
all  the  ports  in  the  Empire  of  Morocco  now  open  to  foreign 
trade,  or  which  may  hereafter  be  opened  to  foreign  trade  and 
to  foreign  vessels;  and  should  His  Majesty  the  Sultan  of 
Morocco  open  other  ports  within  the  limits  cf  His  Majesty's 
dominions,  no  difference  shall  be  made  in  the  levying  of  import 
and  export  duties,  or  anchorage  charges,  between  the  said  ports 
and  those  ports  in  the  Sultan's  dominions  which  are  now  open 
to  foreign  trade. 

Article  XIX. 

In  order  that  the  two  High  Contracting  Parties  may  have  the 
opportunity  of  hereafter  treating  and  agreeing  upon  such  other 
arrangements  as  may  tend  still  further  to  benefit  their  respec- 
tive subjects  and  kingdoms  and  to  facilitate  their  commercial 
transactions,  it  is  agreed  that,  at  any  time  after  the  expiration 
of  five  years  from  the  date  of  the  exchange  of  the  ratifications  of 
the  present  Convention  of  Commerce  and  Navigation,  cither  of 
the  High  Contracting  Parties  shall  have  the  right  to  call  ui)on 
tlic  other  to  enter  upon  a  revision  of  the  same  ;  but,  until  such 
revision  shall  have  been  accomplished  by  common  consent  and 
a  new  Convention  shall  have  been  concluded  and  ratified,  (he 
present  Convention  shall  continue  and  remain  in  full  force  and 
cfTcct. 

Artici.k  X.\. 

The  present  Convention  shall  be  ratified  by  Her  Majesty  the 
Queen  of  Clrcat  Britain  and  by  His  Majesty  the  Sullan  of 
•Morocco,  and  the  ratifications  shall  Ijc  exchanged  at  Tangier  in 
the  same  manner  as  the  General  Treaty  which  is  at  present  in 
force  between  the  two  Contracting  I'owcrs. 


APPENDIX.  349 

After  the  exchange  of  the  ratifications,  all  the  provisions  of 
the  present  Convention  of  Commerce  and  Navigation  shall 
come  into  operation  without  delay,  notwithstanding  anything  to 
the  contrary  contained  in  previous  Treaties  or  Conventions 
between  Her  Majesty  the  Queen  and  His  Majesty  the  Sultan 
of  Morocco. 

In  witness  whereof  we,  the  respective  Plenipotentiaries,  have 
signed  the  present  Convention,  and  have  affixed  thereto  our 
seals. 

Done  at  Fez,  the  13th  July,  1892, 


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